


Countdown

by LazySundayMusings



Category: Peter Kay's Car Share (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:06:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazySundayMusings/pseuds/LazySundayMusings
Summary: John has worked in the store for just under twenty three years.In less than three days he begins his new job in Area Office.Continues twelve days after the events of “New Year’s Day”.
Relationships: Kayleigh Kitson/John Redmond
Kudos: 5





	1. Monday

Monday 13 January, six-twenty pm

The couple were sitting at “their” table in the quiet cafe not far from the store.

Kayleigh stabbed one of the meatballs on John’s plate and ate it with a grin. “It did seem odd, turning up and getting the “keep your nose clean” message by the HR girls even before stepping through the door this morning.”

John frowned at the blatant theft of part of his dinner that he’d saved for last. “Ah. That was my idea,” he admitted. “I really wasn’t sure how today would go, so called in a favour. I figured a quiet Monday would be best for Dave’s first day back in the place.”  
“But he’s not actually the Manager until Wednesday, right?”  
“Wednesday afternoon, yeah.”  
“Right. So. How did it go today?”

What a question...

********************

There had only been one time when there’d been anything like a public disagreement. It was ten minutes into the standard eight-thirty Seniors’ meeting that morning, when a comment by Dave Thompson had prompted John to end the meeting on the spot. The door was still closing behind the last of the Seniors as John rounded on a stunned Dave.  
“I said No, and I meant it,” said John. “Here’s how it is. When Alan Campbell pulled me off the project he made it very clear that this was MY store, to run as I see fit. So if I want to have a short meeting every morning to tell the Senior staff what’s going on, then there’ll be a short meeting every morning when I’ll tell the Senior staff what’s going on.  
Now. You want to cancel those meetings, go back to before when you kept all the knowledge to yourself? Go ahead. But not until after one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. Until then I’ll thank you not to contradict me in front of MY staff.”

John was still scowling at Dave when his work phone rang. He took a deep breath.  
“John Redmond.  
Hi Colin.  
Yes?”  
His eyes flicked over to Dave. “He is.  
Why?  
Not until you tell me why.  
Well, that won’t be possible until Wednesday afternoon.  
Because he won’t be authorised to discuss store or company business until Wednesday afternoon.  
One o’clock at the earliest.”  
John rolled his eyes.  
“So you either wait until one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon to talk to him directly, or you call back in about fifteen minutes and talk to me while Dave listens in.  
Well, what you describe as “inconvenient” is something that has been set in stone by our Legal Services department. You heard what happened to TransportersUK, right?  
Exactly. So?”  
There was a brief pause, then, “Very good. Talk to you soon.”

He was shaking his head as he put the phone in his pocket. “Colin from CJK. Calling back in fifteen to discuss changing their payment dates in February and March. They gave us a heads-up about it in November, based on their projected revenues over Christmas. At the time I said we’d probably be okay with it, but we’d need to talk it through later. Which is now.”  
“Oh, yes. So why don’t I know about this?”  
“It’s in the mound of emails you haven’t read yet.”

“What was that business about Transporters? What happened there?”  
“Tried to opt out of key bits of their service contract with Leigh.”  
“And?”  
“Legal tore them to shreds in court.”  
“Jesus. Why?”  
“New blood in Legal wanted to make a big impression. Transporters picked the wrong week to push their luck and copped it.”

John jerked his head towards the door. “Let’s get a brew before Colin rings back. We’ll take it in the office.”  
Dave nodded his agreement.  
“And once that’s done you should grab your laptop, set up in the small meeting room and catch up on all the emails.”  
“Reading three months’ worth of emails is not a good use of my time today.”  
“I’ve flagged the most important ones. Start with those, then work through the rest in date order. And don’t just mark them all as read, either. Actually read them.”  
“I’m not wasting my time with them.”  
John sighed, then turned left instead of right. “In here.”  
John did his customary triple-knock on the HR-office door.  
“Come in.”  
Roisin’s broad smile - “Hi John” - quickly faded - “Dave” - as the pair walked in.  
John nodded to Pamela and Barbara before he turned to face Roisin. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need a moment of your time. About Broughton in Lincoln-Two. The procedural screw-up.”  
“Yes?”  
“What’s the official position?”  
“She’s been reprimanded.”  
“And in reality?”  
Roisin hesitated, her eyes flicking between John and Dave before John nodded. “Being treated like a toddler, we’re hearing.”  
“With a full-time minder?”  
“Ahuh.”  
“Thank you. I’ll see you at eleven.”

Once outside the room Dave tapped John’s shoulder. “What was that about? Since when does a ten-year manager get treated like a - did she say toddler?”  
“Since Broughton lied about reading and understanding some of the new procedures that were sent out to all the managers under Area. At least her screw-up only resulted in a loss of face rather than actual credibility. Or money."  
Dave’s face gave away exactly what he was thinking about the treatment of his colleague in Lincoln.  
“Look,” said John, “Head Office isn’t taking any prisoners at the moment. “New Year, new attitude” - you know how it goes. It’s all spelled out in one of the emails you’ve not read yet. That’s why you have to look at them. Today.”

********************

Store Manager’s office, ten-fifty am

The call with CJK had gone well. It had been a formality in real terms, with John having already received conditional approval from Area’s Finance section a week earlier in anticipation of the discussion. Dave had sat quietly, contributing little more than greetings and acknowledgements of the good working relationship between the two companies.

But John had seen the tell-tale signs of Dave’s growing frustration at not being able to actively participate in the discussion, let alone lead it.  
The grimace. The eye-rolls. The fidgeting. The signs were right there if you knew what to look for.

John tapped quickly on the computer while Dave exchanged a few final pleasantries with the callers at CJK. When he ended the call Dave said “You’ll need to confirm all that with Area, remember?” to which John replied “Already done” as he patted the monitor.  
With Dave having been reduced to a spectator, the tension in the room was now palpable.

Dave deflected John’s suggestion to start reviewing the outstanding emails, instead starting a more general chat about the events of the previous three months. Then the questions started, innocuous at first before becoming more specific.  
But by the time John realised why Dave had been asking those specific questions he was on the back foot and feeling the need to defend his actions.  
“I’ve done nothing of the sort. Everything’s been dotted, crossed and double-checked.”  
“I’m not convinced of that. That level of spending in this place isn’t justified at all, let alone in that short timeframe.” He fixed John with a stare. “I’m going to talk to Campbell about it.”  
“Well, that’s up to you.”  
“You’re damn right it is. I’m ringing him now.” Dave already had his phone to hand and was swiping the screen.  
“Go ahead,” said John, “but he’s been working from home since last Thursday so you’ll need to call his cell.”  
Dave hesitated, tapped CANCEL then started tapping another number.  
“Which has changed while you’ve been away.”  
Dave stopped tapping and hung his head. “So what’s his new number?”  
“I’ve got it on speed-dial. Here we go.”  
John hit speed-dial four on the desk phone then moved the unit just out of Dave’s reach.  
“Give me the phone.”  
“Not a chance. It goes on speaker so we can both hear what he has to say.”  
Dave was now glaring.  
John glared back. “You don’t get to filter anything out until Wednesday, remember?”

They heard a brief crackle, then a very tired voice. “Alan Campbell.”  
“Good morning, Alan. John Redmond here.”  
“John. Um...” They heard him yawn. “Something I can help you with?”  
“I’m fine, Alan. It’s Dave here who has some concerns.”  
“Oh yes? Anything in particular, Dave?”  
“Actually, yes. It’s the level of spending that’s gone on while I’ve been away-”  
“Including all the big-ticket items you signed off,” John interrupted.

No sound came through the speaker for what seemed like an eternity, before the faint sound of crying could be heard in the background.  
“Oh, God,” came Alan’s voice through the phone. There was a second, muffled voice, then they heard Alan say “Thanks, love” before he sighed. “Gentlemen, I do not have the time or the energy for this so I’ll keep it simple. Everything John sent through was complete and correct, and was considered for approval using standard cost-benefit criteria. I then reviewed them and said Yes or No based on my read on what each would mean for the store and the staff.”  
“But it’s too much to have spent in three months...”  
Alan spoke slowly. “Are you questioning my judgement?”  
Dave cleared his throat. “...No.”  
“Good. Now. Anything else, Dave?”  
“Not from me.”  
“Nor me,” added John. “Thanks for your time, Alan. Ah, how is young Madeline?”  
Alan yawned. “Despite what you might have just heard, she is getting better. Even got proper sleep last night. Unlike me.”  
“That’s great to hear. Look, we’ll leave you be. Thanks again for your time.”  
“Yeah, yeah...”  
The call ended with a click.

Dave was still looking at the phone. “You knew about his kid being sick, didn’t you?”  
“How she’s full of colic? Of course I did. It’s amazing how much you hear when your manager isn’t the type to keep everyone else in the dark.”  
“You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”  
“What? And deny you the opportunity to big yourself up to the boss on your first day back?”

Dave was fuming. “You’re a bastard, Redmond.”  
“Fuck you and all,” John snarled. “I’m sick of you undermining me. If you’d read the emails like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t be looking like an arse right now.”

Dave made to stand but stopped when he realised that John’s finger was resting on the orange speed-dial key on the desk phone. He changed tack.  
“You really think you’ve won something here, don’t you? He’ll forget this in time.”  
“Of course he will. Eventually. But right now, the Area Manager is thinking that the first thing you did today was question every decision that was made in your absence, all of which were passed by the relevant people in Area and Head Office. Including him. If you’re lucky he’ll put it down to your usual bravado and bullshit, rather than suggest that someone needs to hold your hand for a while like Broughton.”  
“I’ve been in retail thirty-two years-”  
“Which would make it even more embarrassing if he thinks you need your hand held, right? Look. You wanted copies of every work email for the last three months. I’ve done that. You’ve had five weeks to work through them but not bothered, so that’s on you.”  
“But-”  
“But nothing. Like I said earlier - grab your laptop, take the small meeting room and get caught up.”  
“That room’s freezing. I’ll do it here.”  
“No you won’t. I’ve got a store to run. Lots of meetings. Starting with HR in a minute or so.”  
“This is MY office.”  
“Not until Wednesday afternoon, it’s not.”

Dave turned away and muttered something under his breath that John couldn’t make out.  
John tilted his head. “Sorry, what? I missed that.”  
But Dave was in no mood to repeat it.  
“Look,” said John, “it was Campbell’s decision to call me back to the store, to have me in this office doing your job. But if you think Alan made a mistake, if you feel the need to question his judgement,” - his hand was back on the desk phone - “then I can call him straight back. We know his phone is on. He’ll definitely pick it up.”  
John’s finger was now resting on REDIAL.  
“Well? Should I call him for you or not?”

Dave was saved from responding by the knock at the door. “Hi. Is now a good time?” asked Roisin.  
“No,” barked Dave.  
“Yes,” countered John. “You’re right on time, as always. Come on in.”  
Roisin walked in, assessed the situation and looked to John for guidance.  
“Set up on the big table,” he said. “We’ll need the room for when we review your numbers. I’ll call Simon in once that’s done so we can bring him up to speed. Then we can move on to-”  
His eyes followed Roisin’s gaze over to Dave who was putting on his heavy coat.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Going home,” replied Dave. “It’ll take hours to read that lot. I don’t need to be here for that.”  
John thought for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough. See you in the morning, although, I assume you won’t be joining us at the eight-thirty?”  
“It’s a waste of everyone’s time, so, no.”  
Dave was part-way to the door when John spoke again. “One last thing.”  
“What?”  
“The emails get archived, remember?”  
Dave merely grunted before pulling the door closed behind him, using much more force than was necessary.

John moved to the computer, briefly tapped on the keyboard then turned the monitor towards the big table.  
“What do you need that for?” asked Roisin, lifting her folder. “I’ve got all the notes here.”  
“It’s not for our chat. I’m keeping an eye on his emails.”  
“Okay.”  
“He’s hardly looked at any over the last five weeks.”  
“Oh. Is that why you visited earlier?”  
“Yep.”  
“But what was that business about the archive just now?”  
“Emails in the corporate accounts aren’t actually deleted, just kept in the archive out of sight. Right?”  
“Yes, so?”  
“So, Systems can always go into the archive and get a list of every email that was in any of those accounts. And that list would show the key info for each email, including the dates it was received, when it was read - if at all - and deleted. And who did it.”  
“Okay...”  
“So he can’t just delete like mad and be done with it,” he continued.  
“Do you really think he... you’re not saying he might have just deleted them all? Say he never got them?”  
John shrugged. “By reminding him how it works, I’m forcing him to read each and every one of them. Which is what he’s supposed to have done in the first place.”

Roisin took a moment to digest that. “Well.”  
“Well what?”  
“After hearing you say that, dare I ask how it’s gone so far?”  
John gave her a quick summary of the morning’s events. “Still,” he added, “we’ve only sworn at each other once.”  
“That’s hardly a positive thing for the morning, John. Especially since he’s already gone home.”  
John smiled. “Oh, yeah.”  
“What’s that smile for?”  
“He went home rather than spend hours freezing in that small meeting room.”  
Roisin looked confused. “But the heating in that room got sorted about two months ago.”  
“I know. And he’d know that too if he’d read the emails. Look,” he said as Roisin shook her head, “he’s not done all the preparation he should have done. He tried to score points against me with Campbell instead. If he’s gonna cop that attitude on his first day I don’t want him here. And since he now thinks I’m busy with meetings all day, he won’t be surprised when I ignore him every time he tries to ring me.  
Now stop shaking your head at me like that.”  
Roisin arched her eyebrows instead.  
“Hey,” said John, “it’s just for today. He’s got to catch up with all the emails tonight, meaning he’ll be up to speed with everything about the store itself. Tomorrow we’ll be talking about the staff. And that’s why I wanted this meeting to be a full hour. Everything we’ve got planned, the things we’ve already discussed - it all needs to be locked down before Wednesday afternoon.” He was counting on his fingers. “Extra training for Butchery and Seafood, off-site visits for Promotions and Customer Care, the options around the holiday-rosters, Elsie’s extended time off for her knee op - all of that and the rest. I want it all wrapped up nicely. No loose ends.”  
“All right. We’re gonna need plenty of tea for this, yes?”  
“We are.”

The cafeteria wasn’t empty as they made their drinks so Roisin had to hold her tongue until they got back in the office.  
“When I came in and Dave was looking annoyed, you had your finger on the orange speed-dial key on the phone.”  
“I did. As well as a couple of times before you came in.”  
“Would you really have called in Store Security on him?”  
“Every time he got wound up I put my finger near that button and he calmed down. He thinks I would actually have him thrown out of the store, so I don’t actually have to press it.”

“So would you have?”  
John smiled. “Would I have called in Store Security and had them march Dave Thompson out of the store in front of customers and staff alike, do you mean?”

“Well? John?”

********************

“John?”  
Kayleigh was now tapping his arm. “Are you in there?”  
“Ahuh.”  
“You all right? You were miles away.”  
“I’m all right. Although all my meatballs seem to have disappeared.”  
Kayleigh flashed him THAT smile. “You haven’t said how your day went.”

John scratched his chin.  
“About as well as could be expected...”


	2. Tuesday

Tuesday 14 January, six-fifty pm, “Plugs Out” studio

John was sitting in the control room, his face in his hands. The two sound engineers were smiling to themselves, having seen the same reaction hundreds of times before.  
“It sounds fine,” said Penny. “The audience probably won’t notice.”  
“That I’m still not always playing in time? Really?”  
“Well...”  
John’s shoulders slumped even lower.  
“See, the parts when you’re playing solo? They’re spot-on, but it goes a bit wrong when everyone else comes in. And that’s you not being used to the in-ears. Plus a lack of playing time.”  
She pressed on before John could speak. “You know what I mean. You’ve played plenty, yes. But hardly any of it has needed you to be as precise as you’re having to be with that lot.” She was now jabbing her thumb at the main window, through which they could see the rest of the musicians sitting about in the recording studio itself. “Jim went through the same. You’ll get it.”  
Penny turned back to the console.  
“John, you’re nearly there. You know the material. Now it’s just finessing.”  
“Playing in time, you mean.”  
“Well, yeah. Look. You’ve got another five or six practice sessions before the gig. What I suggest you do is take home the full-fat recording of everyone and use it to spot where you start to go wrong, then throw the other tape in - with you cut out of the mix - and practice playing along with that. And make sure you use headphones at home so you mainly hear your...”  
Her voice trailed off, and when John looked over Penny seemed to be staring into the distance. Then her expression changed.  
“Got an idea. Get back out there and plug in.”

The rest of the group watched as John trotted out of the control room and over to the second of the keyboards. He quickly donned the headphones then looked across to the control room window. “Right, then. What are we doing?”  
“Just a sec, John...” came Penny’s voice through the monitors.  
The large glass window showed that Penny and her off-sider were both seated at the main console, both busily adjusting something out of sight of the group. Then Penny spoke again.  
“Okay. We’ll be doing a short section of “Nights”, starting two minutes in. We’ll have you playing for about a minute - maybe just over. Probably five or six times, we’re thinking.”  
“Do you need us up for this?” asked Adam as he reached for his drumsticks.  
“No, no - playback’s good enough. Right, John. Ready?”  
“Yep.”  
“Here we go...”

********************

Ten hours earlier (eight twenty-five am)

John and SimonB made a point of arriving early for the Seniors’ meeting, both quietly hopeful that Dave Thompson would actually turn up and observe the meeting with an open mind. He didn’t turn up.  
When the rest of the senior staff arrived, they saw that Simon was seated at the head of the table, with John to his left. John had two cellphones and his notepad in front of him, and was occupied with all of them.  
“Good morning everyone,” said Simon. “This won’t take long.  
The second group of our daytime-temps finish up today. It’s a slightly shorter day for them but you need to keep them all busy right through to... um, is it four o’clock today, Roisin?”  
She nodded. “Four o’clock, since there’s more in this group. We’ll be set up in the cafeteria again, so send them up to us when they’re done for the day.”  
“Very good,” said Simon. “Next point - thank you all for finalising the preparations for going back to reduced hours this Friday.” He was still looking at Roisin. “Does HR need anything else for this?”  
Roisin shook her head.  
He looked at Brenda. “How about Admin Support, Mrs Kelson?”  
“Nothing more.”  
“All right then. John.”

“Thanks, Simon. Just confirming that there will be a two o’clock meeting this afternoon, and another eight-thirty tomorrow morning. But that’s it. Dave is firm on that.” He turned to Simon. “Unless he’s said different to you?”  
“Only that he wants things back as they were before last November,” said Simon. “We're having a session tomorrow morning to talk through his expectations through to April.”  
“Very good,” said John. “And on that - I want to take this opportunity to thank you all again for your support these last couple of months. It’s not always gone smoothly but we’ve achieved a lot, and I know you’ll continue to support Dave once he’s back in his rightful place. And Simon here, obviously, as he continues as Assistant Manager for the next three months.”  
There was a chorus of nods around the table.  
“It’s not an easy job, this one. But it’s made easier when you’ve got great people backing you up. So thank you all.”  
There was a pause before Craig spoke up. “Can I ask you something real quick?”  
“Sure.”  
“Are you really not going to do anything for your last day tomorrow?”  
Brenda piped up. “This isn’t the time or place, Craig.”  
John spoke up. “No, it’s fine, Brenda.” He looked around the group. “There’s just no time. Tomorrow will be a regular day for me. Just a bit shorter than usual. Here, anyway. I’ll be straight over to Area to get on with the new job.”  
“But-”  
“The plan was always for me to leave once Dave came back,” John continued. “Originally back to the project for a couple of months, maybe a bit longer - but now it’s permanent. And it’s not like I’m leaving the company. Or the country. I’m just a twenty-minute walk away. I’ll be around.”  
With that he stood and picked up his notepad and phones. “Have a good day, everyone.”

********************

John was talking with Pamela and Barbara in the HR office when Roisin walked in. She leaned against the door and crossed her arms, unable to suppress a smile.  
“Excuse me, Mr Acting Store Manager, why are you disturbing my team?”  
“I’m not disturbing your team. I am engaging in polite conversation with them.”  
“You’re stalling so you don’t have to go talk to Dave Thompson, you mean.”  
John held up his hands. “Don’t know what you mean.”  
Roisin jabbed her thumb at the door. “Hop it, you. We need to make a start on the admin for all the temps you’re setting free today.”

In truth John had been stalling, uncertain what mood Dave would be in after their blow-up the previous day. He’d monitored the state of Dave’s email account throughout the afternoon and into the early evening, watching as the status of the emails progressively changed from “Unread” to “Read”, noting with approval what emails were retained versus those that Dave deleted.  
He did note a significant pause after he saw Dave open the email with the new in-store ID requirements, and could only imagine how blue the air was turning in the Thompson household at that moment.  
“Stick with polite and professional,” John decided.

John took the time to say “Good Morning” to every member of staff he saw on his way to the cafeteria where he’d told Dave to wait via a Post-It note on the door of his office that he’d locked before going to the eight-thirty meeting. He hesitated at the door, then went straight over to make a cup of tea before turning and walking to the small table where Dave was seated.  
Dave looked up as John approached. “Good morning.”  
“Good morning.”  
“Professional it is, then,” thought John before saying “Thank you for wearing the correct name badge today.”  
Dave made a face as he indicated the plain silver badge on his jacket simply saying “DAVID THOMPSON”. “This is pointless. Everyone knows who I am and how long I’ve been managing this place.”  
“The word you’re wanting is “mandatory” after the security breach in Stockport just before Christmas. You saw the email.”  
“I did, but it was light on details. Just went on about extended security requirements without saying why.”  
“Really? Maybe that came through in a conference call...” John scratched his chin. “Well, some bloke in a sharp suit walked in off the street one day and wandered all over the store like he owned the place. No one questioned him. Got as far as the upstairs-offices before he got rumbled.”  
“How exactly did that happen?”  
“Standards went to hell once Casey went. That, plus high staff turnover and a ton of temps meant that the store was full of new faces. No one knew anyone. Simple as that.”  
“When you say Casey “went”, what does that mean exactly?”  
“He got stiffed once too often so bailed. He was shifting house anyway, but... Yeah. He’s now Assistant Manager in a different outfit in Bury.”  
“Huh.”  
“Yep.”

Both men were quiet for a moment. Then Dave got to his feet. “Let’s get started, yes?”

********************

Eleven-forty am

It had been a productive session. Once Dave swallowed his pride and accepted that he was mainly there to listen and learn, that is.  
And he had listened, took note of key events during his absence, acknowledged the good results, questioned some of the less-than-stellar results, challenged a number of the decisions that had been made but in the clinical, detached way that John expected from a manager and had prepared for. Dave had briefly ventured back into the topic of the large capital costs but was shut down by John’s repetition of the “dotted, crossed and double-checked” message from the previous day.

John pressed on, not wanting Dave to fixate on the costs any longer.  
“That’s the store itself covered. We can talk about the staff after lunch. But there’s something I want to talk about now, though.”  
“Which is?”  
“My last official act as Acting Manager tomorrow. Short of handing over the phone and all the keys.”  
“Go on.”  
“Elsie O’Donnell. I’m presenting her with “Outstanding Customer Service” tomorrow. And I’m making a big deal of it. Of her.”  
Dave didn’t react so John continued.

“No one ever got “Outstanding Customer Service” twice in a row before Elsie did. She’s just earned it for the third month on the trot. So I’m making a fuss about it.”  
Still no reaction.  
“At about eleven-thirty a press team from Area is turning up. I’ll do the presentation, her photo will be taken for the staff newsletter-”  
“That nobody reads,” Dave interrupted.  
“Along with an article about the standing stools being rolled out in late-February as a result of the write-up she did with Simon Barret,” continued John. “That article with photos will also be kept in the Area archive.”  
Dave nodded.  
“And she’s getting the afternoon off. I’ve already told her supervisor and lined up a lift home for her.”  
Dave arched his eyebrows as he opened his mouth to speak.  
John held up a finger. “I’m not asking you for permission here. I’m telling you how it is.”  
Dave held up his hands. “All right, all right. It’ll still be your store so you can do what you want. Although I’d appreciate the opportunity to congratulate O’Donnell myself. After the fact, obviously.”  
“Of course.”

They were quiet for a moment, each contemplating the other.  
“That went better than expected,” thought John.  
“Fucking hell,” thought Dave. “Tubby’s got a backbone after all. Who’d have thought it?”

Following that moment of calm John had no hesitation in suggesting they break early for lunch but still resume at one o’clock. Dave had been quick to agree and was soon out the door, leaving John to eat his lunch at the desk while glancing over the material they needed to cover that afternoon. Then a double-knock on the doorframe got his attention.  
“Hi, Brenda.”  
“Hi, John. I see you’re eating, but have you got a minute?”  
“Sure.”  
“Great. Come in, guys.”  
Brenda walked through the door, followed by Helen, SimonB, Sanjay, Craig and all three members of HR, with Roisin bringing up the rear. She closed the door behind her then stood with the others, four of whom were holding small boxes.  
John looked at the group. “Um...”  
“We’re a deputation.”  
“I see.”  
“Here to tell you that you don’t get to finish up here in the manner of your choosing.”  
“Oh.”  
“Because we’ve decided to make a fuss of you, whether you like it or not.”  
John couldn’t suppress a smile. “Well, I guess that’s me told, then.”  
“That’s right,” said Brenda. “Now open your presents.” 

Two minutes later Kayleigh heard the text-alert on her phone. Once the few customers in the aisle had moved on she got out her phone, quickly glanced at the photo Helen had just taken of John posing with his presents and put it away with a smile.

********************

One-fifty pm

As John had expected, it was the extended discussions about staffing matters that caused the friction. Friction that started soon after they resumed at one o’clock.

And now Dave was on a roll. “And you’ve lost a few staff, I see.”  
“I didn’t “lose” anyone.”  
Dave held up a short list of names. “Explain these, then.”  
“Fine.” John took the list. “Forrster resigned rather than sign up to the new conditions. You let her leave early, remember?”  
“Did I?”  
“McVie resigned rather than sign up to the new performance standards...  
Anders has resigned but agreed to extend to the end of this month...  
Gibson was going to resign but I convinced her to transfer instead, so she’s up in one of our Glasgow stores until she starts her ambo training next year.”  
“Gibson?”  
“Megan. One of the First Aiders.”  
“Don’t remember her.”  
“Huh. And then Trevor Simms passed just before Christmas.”  
Dave gave him a questioning look.  
“He’d been off for three months by that point.”  
Dave voice softened. “Oh, yes. You took care of everything, I assume?”  
“I did.”  
“Very good.”

Dave’s brusque manner returned. “What’s not good are these. What about Addlington’s written warnings? Two in two days? How could that happen?”  
“It’s all in her Personal file. She got the first one for openly discussing your return-date and my departure-date despite having been specifically told not to. She got the second one for making a spectacle of herself in front of customers and staff about getting the first one.”  
“But-”  
“We got a “Please Explain” from Head Office after some of the customers contacted them directly, wanting assurances that we’d taken action. If you want them rescinded you’ll have to explain to H.O. why you feel that her two instances of totally unprofessional behaviour are acceptable in your eyes.”  
John took a deep breath. “Look. It’s simple. One of your favourites fucked up. Twice. Just accept it.”

Dave fixed John with a stare. “That’s rich, you lecturing me about favourites.”  
“What are you on about?”  
“These one-on-one sessions you organised about training options to get into the management stream. I’m told you were quite selective about who these were offered to.”  
John spoke slowly and clearly. “It’s not favouritism if you make an opportunity available to all staff but only a few take you up on it. I offered a session to any member of staff who wanted one, starting back in early December. Just thirteen took that offer up. One-three. I’m assuming your snitch wasn’t one of them.” He rubbed his chin. “Who was it, by the way?”  
“Does it matter?”  
“Actually, no. Not to me. You, however, have an issue with them.”  
“In what way?”  
“Because spies are no use if they only tell you what they think you want to hear.”

John glanced at his watch while Dave stewed. “You have to leave.”  
“Why?”  
“I’m going to the two o’clock meeting. Are you coming along?”  
“No.”  
“Well, you can’t stay in here while I’m gone. You read the new requirements. Go get a drink or something. We’ll pick up again at twenty-past.”

********************

Three-forty pm

The break hadn’t helped. No sooner had Dave sat down than he was pointing to the video conferencing setup. “When are you getting this monstrosity out of my office?”  
“It’ll be moved to the small meeting room in the morning, before you arrive.”  
“Why not now?  
“I’ll be using it for a five-store conference call at half-seven tomorrow. I’ll move it after that.”  
“You’ll be clearing the rest of your things out as well, obviously.”  
“Obviously.”  
“Tonight?”  
“And tomorrow, yes.”

“Good. Now. Costs.”  
“No,” said John. “I want to talk about the Suggestion Scheme. Are you going to move ahead with what’s already loaded in there?”  
“That’s really none of your business any more, is it?”  
“They’re recorded in the system. At some point they will be followed-up. There’s some good ideas among that lot, some solid thinking by the staff.”  
Dave scoffed. “You’re too close to the staff to be objective.”  
“And you’re too removed from the staff to recognise just how much they know and what they can contribute. Who better than the staff to know what needs changing to get things working well for them?”  
“We’re not having this conversation. It’s no longer your concern.”  
“You won’t even consider the quick wins?”  
“I’m done talking about it. My main concern right now is costs. What you incurred while I wasn’t here and what you’ve already committed us to.”

John sighed. “We’ve been through this. I got approval from Area and Head Office. Remember?”  
Dave gritted his teeth. “I’m not talking about all that. I’m talking about all the smaller, discretionary spending you put through.”  
“I didn’t exceed any of the spending caps by item or category. Didn’t come close.”  
“It all adds up, you know.”  
“What does, exactly?”

“Right.” Dave slid a piece of paper across the table. “Let’s start with this. How about this cost for having O’Donnell set up in that Santa thing last month? How was that money justified?”  
“You weren’t here to see how popular it was.”  
“Being popular doesn’t cover costs.”  
“It can when it means more customers are encouraged to shop with us.”  
“You’ve no proof it brought more money in.”  
“And you’ve no proof it didn’t. The final cost for the Santa setup, including Elsie’s part-time involvement, was more than covered by the use of Promotions and Customer Care on standard store-duties. I know you’ve seen those numbers.”  
“All I saw was you playing favourites.”  
“Elsie asked for the chance to do that. By which time she’d earned the OCS two months running. And while she was part of the most successful Christmas setup the store has ever had, she was still doing her job well enough to earn a third OCS. Unlike YOUR favourite who did little more than earn herself two written warnings in two days and the wrong kind of attention from Head Office,” he snapped.  
Dave’s nostrils were flared but he kept quiet.  
“You’ve no proof that money was wasted, while Elsie’s continued good performance proves it wasn’t a time-soak.  
Next?”

It didn’t get any easier. Dave continued to bring up relatively small examples of spending, each time pressing John to justify why the money had been spent, each time John easily batting away the criticism.  
And then John decided he’d had enough.  
“You know what’s most aggravating about all this? It’s not that you’re entitled to ask these questions, which you obviously are, or even that the answers are easily found. IF you’d bothered to look. No. It’s that you’re making all this noise about supposedly unnecessary and discretionary spending to benefit the store and staff, yet you didn’t make a single peep about the store sending multiple bouquets to your Alison while she was in hospital. Or to celebrate her getting home.  
Not. One. Peep.”

Dave sniffed. “It’s not the same thing.”  
“You’re right,” John agreed. “You’re absolutely right. The spending in and around the store was to provide equipment, training and experiences that would benefit the store and the staff.  
While the bouquets were gestures of sympathy and support for your wife - who adores flowers, let’s not deny it - although every single one of them has long-since withered and been thrown out. Correct?  
Oh! Now I think about it, since your main concern is about costs, why haven’t you instructed the store to invoice your Alison for those flowers? To make the books look better, obviously.”

John waited for a reaction but didn’t get one.  
“No? Interesting. Seems to me you need to reread the Declaration you signed last year. Pay particular attention to the sections on transparency and consistency.”

Dave clenched his teeth. “You think you’re so fucking clever, don’t you? I should have kicked your arse up the road years ago.”

John’s voice sounded much calmer than he felt. “Well, why don’t you do it now, then? Oh, right. You can’t, because you’re not my boss. Hell, you’re not even a Manager. You’re currently an employee with no say and no authority.”  
He reached for the desk phone.  
“As for me, however...” He moved his finger over the orange speed-dial key.  
“You’re bluffing.”  
John hit the button. It was answered immediately and a terse voice came through the speaker.  
“Security. Yes, Mr Redmond?”  
“Hi Tom. Can you come up here please?”  
“Sir?”  
“Mr Thompson is to be escorted to his car.” John paused much longer than necessary. “He’s carrying important documents, you see.”  
“Understood, Mr Redmond. On my way.”  
“Thank you.”

John ended the call then looked across at Dave who hadn’t moved. “Don’t just sit there - pack it up. You’ll be leaving in about a minute.”  
He watched as Dave swept two folders into his bag and started to pull on his coat.  
“Alan Campbell will call us separately tomorrow, after which he’ll decide if you’re ready to be back in this office. And given what you did on Monday, you need to be on your best behaviour tomorrow. So do yourself a favour: go home and work on your attitude.”  
He allowed himself a brief grin.  
“While I decide whether I should give you a written warning for your repeated use of offensive language in the workplace. Imagine that - getting a written warning on your second day back.”

Dave’s head dropped. “Fucks’ sake, Redmond...”

“What? What are you gonna do? I don’t work for you, remember? I won’t be working for you after tomorrow either. And, unlike you, I am on very good terms with HR. They’ve had plenty of practice with written warnings lately, thanks to one of your favourites. I’m thinking it would take them under fifteen minutes to add another one to the collection in your personal file. You know - to go with the one you got about three years ago that you've tried to keep quiet.”  
Dave winced but said nothing.  
“Like I said - I’m on very good terms with HR,” John repeated. 

The sound of approaching footsteps got their attention.  
John lowered his voice and spoke quickly. “One last thing. If you’re even one second late for work tomorrow I’ll dock your pay.”  
He turned to face the door as the knocking began.  
“Come in, Tom.”

Fifteen seconds later the door closed behind the two men and John was left alone, his fists clenched tightly to stop them shaking with the sheer volume of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

********************

Five-ten pm

Kayleigh had been waiting outside the staff entrance for a few minutes before John emerged, pushing a small hand trolley on which was a small plastic crate and three of the four boxes he’d been given that morning. They’d then moved a short distance from the staff entrance, keeping out of the way of the streams of departing and arriving staff.  
Kayleigh had been looking at the boxes. “They gave you two teapots, right?”  
“Right.”  
“So where’s the other one?”  
“The small one is in the office. I’ll keep that as my work-one, take the rest home. Although I’ll be keeping some of the tea at work as well, seeing as how Brenda made no secret of the fact that she likes every one of the types they got for me.”

Kayleigh smiled. “It’s lovely they did that for you.”  
“I told everyone I didn’t want any fuss or bother, so they kept it quiet and didn’t bother to wrap anything.” His smile matched hers. “Did you know anything about it?”  
“Helen mentioned they’d got you something just before they headed up to see you, but she didn’t say what. I wouldn’t have thought to get you these.”  
“Yeah, well - this has Brenda written all over it.”  
Kayeigh waited for a group of night-shift staff to move past before continuing.

“We saw Dave Thompson leave well-early today. What was that about?”  
“I, um, let him go early. To prepare. It’s his big day tomorrow, right?”  
“Oh, of course. That was good of you.”  
“Thanks. I think so too.”  
“You didn’t think to let me go early, though, did you?” said Kayleigh with a smile.  
“Yeah, but tomorrow’s not such a big day for you, really.”  
“Yeah, I suppose.” She rubbed her arms. “Hope practice goes well tonight. Wish I could go along.”  
“Thanks, but they’ve decided to run closed sessions other than Sundays. And you wouldn’t enjoy it tonight, anyway. We’re doing full set run-throughs during the week, meaning constant repetition until we get it right.” His face fell.  
Kayleigh picked up on it immediately. “Are you still worried about your timing?”  
“Yeah. Thought I had it cracked last time but then it went all wrong again. Can’t understand why I can’t work it out either - and that’s the really annoying bit.” He sighed. “Never mind that now. Got anything lined up tonight?”  
Mandy’s picking me up at the station, then we’ll get dinner and go home.” She glanced at her watch. “And I should go - don’t want to miss the tram.”  
“I’d give you a lift, but...” His voice trailed off.  
“I know. Wrong way, not enough time.” She smiled. “It’s fine. But give me a call later, yeah?”

********************

Six fifty-two pm, “Plugs Out” studio

The rest of the group sat quietly and listened to the studio monitors as John played along to the recording of a previous practice. John had come in at the right time but was soon frowning as he briefly lost the rhythm and couldn’t claw it back before the playback stopped short. There was brief silence before Penny’s voice came through the monitors - “give us a second,” - then another pause before she simply said “again.”

This repeated four times, each time John staying in time more effectively than before.  
Until the fifth time when it seemed he was back at square one. John’s shoulders slumped. “Dammit.”  
“No, no - that was deliberate,” called Penny. “Once more...”  
“What are you-” was all John could say before the playback started. This time he was on it from the start, his body moving with the music, his growing smile matched by those in the group behind him.  
At the end of the playback John was the happiest he’d been all day. “How about that, then?”  
“Good. Yeah.” said Penny. “Right. Now let's do “Long Way”, starting at a minute in, just before the vocal, and have you play through to the end of the back and forth. Here we go...”  
“Wait. What?”  
“Now. Play.”

Two minutes later the playback faded out and John was still the happiest he’d been all day. He looked through to the control room. “Well?”  
The response was a single thumbs-up.  
“What did you do?” asked Guy.  
“Fiddled with his in-ear mix,” said Penny. “It might need a bit of tweaking as we go along, but it’s pretty good right now.”  
John’s smile was even bigger - “Thanks, Penny. Thanks, Sam,” - although he missed the knowing looks being exchanged by the rest of the group behind him.  
“Right you lot,” said Penny. “Let’s go again from the top. John, prep for “Night Moves” then come in and have a listen to what you just did while the others start the set.”

Sam double-checked that they couldn’t be heard in the studio before leaning over. “But that in-ear mix is a dog’s breakfast.”  
“Well, we forgot he’s not a professional musician, didn’t we?”  
“He’s been playing in bands forever, though.”  
Penny made a face. “Hardly bands,” she replied. “He’s played on stage with a few people using simple setups where they relied on listening to what each other was doing. But the default setup for in-ears has you just listening to yourself, so...”  
“So he couldn’t hear anyone else and lost track of the beat,” finished Sam.  
“Exactly. Obvious when you think about it. Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before now.”  
“Why didn’t he just ask us to change it in the first place?”  
“Good question. Who better than him to know what he wants changing to get things working for him?” Penny lowered her voice. “Can you have a quick word with him about that while I start recording the set? We can’t go burning up any more practice time holding his hand with this stuff.”


	3. Wednesday

Wednesday 15 January, five-fifty am

“There you go, sir.”  
“Cheers, mate.”

John took back the store’s account card, nodded to the driver and stepped out of the taxi. He took a moment to look out across the almost-empty car park then hurried in through the main doors to where the overnight manager was waiting, mugs of tea in hand.  
“Morning, John.”  
“Morning, Jeremy.” He took one of the mugs. “Thanks, pal.”  
The pair moved further inside and stood under the heating vent near the Reception desk.  
John loosened his jacket so he could feel the warm air on his neck. “Bloody lifesaver some mornings, this.”  
“Reckon. Especially with the forecast being as crap as it is.”  
“True enough,” replied John. “Right. One last time, then. How’d it go last night?”  
“Dead,” replied Jeremy, shaking his head. “We only had one customer after our catch-up call last night, about eleven-thirty. Who spent all of ten quid, I think. Anyway. Ended up going skeleton on the tills and had everyone checking and rotating stock. To try to keep everyone from getting too bored, you see.” He scratched his chin. “Honestly, it would have been easier to just shut the doors and send everyone home. And cheaper, obviously.”  
They continued to talk as Jeremy led John through the store to the Warehouse where Sanjay and Ekam brought John up to speed with the stock levels in the warehouse and John confirmed he’d extended the lease of the extra forklift through to the middle of February.

Ten minutes later they were again standing by Reception, Jeremy taking advantage of the warmth from the heating vent before heading home. Then a thought struck him.  
“What did you think when you heard that Simon was staying on as Assistant? It was a surprise, that’s for sure.”  
“Was for me as well, given that none of them had shown any interest when we’d chatted just before Christmas.”  
“No one was interested, from what I’ve heard,” Jeremy added.  
“No. Simon said Dave approached him directly with an offer: go an extra three months as sole-Assistant, on the same allowances, in exchange for some extra-kind words in his next Appraisal.”  
“That’s not a terrible offer.”  
“No.” John was frowning. “Although I suspect the kicker was the hefty bonus Dave guaranteed he’d get at the end of it.”  
Jeremy was taken aback. “How can you possibly know that?”  
John was tapping the side of his nose. “Best you don’t ask. But never mind that now. I hear you’re confirmed on the Area early-start roster.”  
“Um, yep. First up is Warrington. Next Tuesday-Wednesday.”  
“That’s great. Except for the hours.” He paused. “Mind you...” Another pause. “Do you remember our chats a while back, about the status of the “Small Stores” project?”  
“I do.”  
“You remember how I said I’m not allowed to be involved with a lot of it because of my work here?”  
“Yeah. Shame about that.”  
“It is a shame.” John lowered his voice. “Otherwise I’d be able to tell you that they plan to start scouting around for staff sometime in March, looking to pre-load the first two stores rather than just one. And since Brenda is taking her usual break from weekend work during March, you might consider asking to take on her weekend hours to show that you’re willing to make the extra effort. Which, going with your early-start duties will stand you in very good stead. None of which you heard from me.  
But what I can say is that when they come to me during the reference-checks I’ll be your strongest supporter.”  
He shook Jeremy’s hand. “Good luck, mate.”  
“Cheers, John. You too.”

********************

Eight twenty-four am

John had positioned himself to one side of the staff entrance, ensuring he was in plain sight of all arriving staff as well as those in the smokers’ shelter. Out of habit he’d been checking his watch every minute or so, fully aware that his presence and apparent timekeeping was making some of the smokers nervous - but not caring. Because his only interest lay with-  
There.  
Dave’s blue MPV was moving towards the staff parking area. John stepped away from the doorway, waved to get Dave's attention and directed him to the empty parking space marked “Store Manager”.  
After Dave got out he looked around, searching for the blue Fiat but not seeing it. "Morning. Um, what’s going on?”  
“Morning. I’m parked over by Area. Makes it easier for me tonight.” He noted the arriving staff and nodded to his left. “Over there, please.”  
Dave followed John to the closed warehouse roller-door where they waited for two of the “Non-Foods” team to trot past on their way to the staff entrance. With no one in earshot John turned to Dave and lowered his voice. “What I want for the next few hours is for us to have a professional working relationship with a focus on the store and the staff, where we work towards a successful handover at one o’clock. To that end I am prepared to forget just how angry you’ve made me these last two days.”  
Dave nodded but said nothing.  
“However, if you give me even one second of grief before the handover I swear I will nail you to the wall. Are we clear on that?”  
“We are.”  
“Excellent.” More passers-by. “But before we go in - one last thing.”  
“Which is?”  
“I didn’t know about your written warning because of HR. It was because some of your fellow managers were talking about it in the last management get-together just before Christmas. A few of the regulars had a few too many ales and started slagging people off.”  
“Since when do you join in with that carry-on?”  
“Oh, no. I wasn’t part of their group. I was one of the people being slagged off. I was a ways away from them but could still hear them. They were a bit loud with it. As usual.”  
“What? Who?”  
“Not important. I’m just making the point that I get along with HR but they didn’t tell me anything, because they’re all professional. Unlike some of your mates once they get a few drinks in them.  
Now. Let’s go in. I take it you’re not interested in attending the eight-thirty?”  
Daves’s response was blunt. “It’s the last-ever meeting so there’s no point.”

Roisin was waiting at the staff entrance as the two men approached.  
“Dave.”  
“Roisin.”  
She looked directly at John. “I need a minute before the meeting, if that’s all right.”  
Dave didn’t stop walking - “I’ll be in the cafeteria” and hurried past to get to the door before it clicked shut.  
“I’ll be with you in fifteen,” said John to Dave’s back.  
With the door now closed, John turned to Roisin. “What’s up?”  
Roisin’s mouth twitched. “Nothing, really. Just wondering what your chat with him was about just now. Looked serious.”  
“I was making it clear what I want happening today.”  
“Okay...”  
“And then I lied to him about how I knew he had that written warning.”  
Roisin frowned. “Huh?”  
One short explanation later...  
“So, yeah,” John continued, “I blamed it on his so-called professional colleagues slagging people off at the management-thingy just before Christmas. Which they were, but Dave didn’t get a mention.” He tapped the side of his nose. “But he doesn’t need to know that, right?”

********************

Eight-forty am

John had nodded to Dave as he walked into the cafeteria before going to make himself his fourth cup of tea for the morning. He was still somewhat amused at the gawping expressions on a couple of faces as he’d quickly left the Seniors’ meeting, his only contribution having been to say “Nothing from me. Have a good day, everyone. I’ll leave you to it,” before he stood up and left.

Back in the small meeting room, the Seniors were still looking at each other.  
“Since when does he have nothing to add?”  
“Must be wanting to get this morning over and done with. Get over to his flash new digs in Area.”  
“There's nothing flash about them,” said Roisin.  
“The big-news project in Area? They’ll have the biggest and best of everything.”  
“They really don’t,” replied Roisin. “I was in there on Monday. It’s about,” - she looked around - “three times longer than this room and half as wide again, but with eight desks and all their equipment crammed into it. And no windows.”  
Craig looked incredulous. “Did he know he’d be working in a cramped little space over there?”  
“Yep.”  
“And he still wanted to go?”  
“Yep.”  
“How badly must he want out of here if he was willing to go-”  
“Never mind that now,” interrupted Simon. “He’ll be gone in four hours from now, and that’s that. We’ve got plenty to be getting on with. Including,” - he was looking at his notebook - “making the most of our last daytime-temps before they finish up today. Will that be at four o’clock again, Roisin?”  
“Yes. No earlier than four o’clock, please...”

********************

Eleven forty-five am, small meeting room

John was standing off to the side as he watched Elsie’s makeup being finessed by the photographer’s wife. The first photo would be used for the Outstanding Customer Service board and the staff newsletter, followed by a set of solo and joint photos - along with Simon - that would accompany the extended article detailing their part in introducing standing stools as standard equipment in the company’s stores across the country.

John had kept a straight face but his feelings were mixed as the first of the photos were taken: happy that Elsie was having her big moment, proud of Elsie’s progress over the last few months, slightly jealous that he wasn’t the one being acknowledged for what was originally his idea. Even though he had insisted that Elsie and Simon were recognised rather than himself.

The brief presentation had taken place in this meeting room, since John and the Deli supervisor had agreed that anything on the main floor of the store would seem out of place, if not downright disruptive. But John did arrange to have several of the senior staff in attendance, and after a few words he handed Elsie the plaque to the sound of applause for what John imagined was the first time for her in a work situation.  
Dave was also present but had taken a back seat until after the presentation was complete, at which point he approached Elsie to offer his own congratulations that seemed genuine and sincere. Before he discretely headed away for an early lunch.

As John watched proceedings he became aware of movement from the corner of his eye and looked across to see that Mark had just walked in. John gestured for him to come closer.  
“You’ve got the car ready?”  
Mark held up the keys. “Yes, Mr Redmond. Next to Mr Thompson’s.”  
“Very good. Well, I have to be in my office in a minute or two so will have to leave you to it. Can you remember to help Elsie in and out of the car, please. Plus walk her to her door, obviously.”  
“Yes, Mr Redmond.”  
A thought struck John. “Now I think about it... um, Helen?”  
“Yes?”  
“Where have you got Promotions helping out at the moment?”  
“They’re in Non-Foods until twelve-thirty.”  
“Thank you. So. Mark, when you walk Elsie out to the car, go via Non-Foods, if you would.”  
“Yes, Mr Redmond.”

********************

One-ten pm

The previous hour had been a blur. John had quickly downed his lunch then worked through the remaining items on his checklist: have a few words with some staff while avoiding others, review and approve the last few tasks he and Roisin were determined to push through before Dave took over, send a handful of emails then retrieve his few remaining belongings and put them in a cardboard box on the big table. When Dave had returned at twelve forty-five it was to a stark office, where the desk only held the computer and desk phone while the two tables were completely clear. John himself was sitting at the desk, waiting.  
“Alan wants to talk to both of us at the same time. Don’t know why.” He waited for Dave to sit down. “Ready?”  
“Yep.”  
“Right.”  
The phone was picked up immediately. “Alan Campbell.”  
“Alan, it’s John Redmond here. With Dave.”  
“Afternoon, gentlemen. Let’s get to it. John, I’ve read your summary email, and it’s, well, brief. Anything you want to add to it?”  
“No.”  
“All right. Dave, John’s email basically says the handover should proceed. Do you have any questions or concerns about that?”  
“None at all,” Dave promptly replied.  
“Very good. Since you’re in agreement - as of now Dave is Manager of MCS1. The official confirmation will come through shortly, but right now - congratulations, Dave.”  
“Thank you, Alan. Thanks, John.”  
“Yes,” added Alan. “Thanks, John. For stepping up when you did and for your efforts these last three months. That store is in a good position, thanks to you.”  
John was tapping on the keyboard. “Everyone here’s stepped up, to be fair.”  
“Very true,” replied Alan. “We’ve heard lots of good things from across the board over there. Now. As for yourself - I take it you’re expected over here shortly?”  
“By two o'clock. First I’ll take the opportunity to say a few last Goodbyes. I’ve been doing that progressively but there’s a couple of people I’ve not managed to catch up with so far.” He turned to Dave. “I’ll just leave my jacket and box here for a bit, if that’s all right.”  
“Fine by me.”  
“Thank you. Thanks, Alan.”  
“Cheers John. Dave.” The call clicked off.

John finished tapping on the keyboard and stood up. “That’s me logged out,” he said. “I won’t be long.”  
“No problem,” replied Dave as he moved behind the desk and adjusted his chair.  
John noted he’d already removed the simple silver name badge from his jacket and replaced it with the badge saying “David Thompson - Manager” engraved on it’s gold-hued surface. He decided not to mention it but simply walked out and half-closed the door behind him.

Within ten minutes John had made his way around the store, having quick chats with some staff, shaking hands with others, all the while working through his mental list of farewells. And now, having reached the end of list, he was standing with Acting Assistant Manager Helen Mitchell.  
“Um, Helen?”  
“Yes?”  
“Can I give you some advice?”  
“Please do.”  
He nodded his head to the left, and they moved a few paces away for privacy.  
“Right,” he said. “Well, it’s a bit awkward, this, but, hmmm. How do I put this?”  
“What is it, John?”  
“Right. Um. Yes.” He lowered his voice. “Look. If you’re ever going to slag off your new boss at work, make sure they’re not around to hear it, yeah?”  
Helen looked confused.  
“Okay. Back when you first started. Sometime in your first week or so. You’d finished up for the day and were outside with... whoever it was at the time.”  
“Julie?”  
“I guess. Anyway, you were only just out the door and you’re talking about your day. And then you started on about your new boss - me - and you described me as - what was it? Revolting? Repulsive? Something like that. Some word starting with “R” anyway.”  
There was a long pause. “Oh, God. You heard that?”  
“Of course I bloody did. And I wasn’t the only one, what with you being so loud about it.” Helen couldn’t miss the anger in his voice. “Look. You’re really good at your job. Good attitude, you make an effort, your staff respect you.” He paused. “But you’re not gonna get the chance to demonstrate any of that if you call your managers this, that and the other during your first days in the place.”  
“John, I-”  
“I need to get going. Good luck when you get to Kent, yeah?”  
He turned on his heel and strode away, having ticked off another item on his exit plan.

Once back at Dave’s office, he knocked twice on the door frame and looked in.  
“I’m done.”

It took a real effort for John not to shake his head at the theatrical way Dave led him through the store and out the main doors, following a very public path clearly meant to show that Dave no longer regarded John as a member of staff.  
Although he did offer John a handshake outside, presumably for the sake of appearances, given they were in plain view of staff and customers.

Dave looked away from John before he started to speak. “Thanks for not making anything of the last two days.”  
“That’s all right. Probably not that important in the long run.”  
Dave chuckled. “No. But you’re still wrong, though. There was no need to get on-side with the staff. You’d have achieved the same outcomes without all that feel-good shite. And those costs weren’t justified. Well, just the essential maintenance. But not the rest.”  
“You’re the one who’s wrong on that.”  
“No I’m not. I’ve been Store Manager for over twelve years. You’ve sat in my office for three months, your every action overseen by someone else. You’ve played at being the manager, that’s all.”  
John didn’t hide his annoyance. “Is this the point when you tell me being manager is a marathon, not a sprint? Look - planning is the key. Along with good communication. Not just who’s sitting behind a certain desk.”  
“Management steers the ship, lands the prize...”  
John shook his head. “Jesus. Enough of the business-speak bollocks, yeah? The rest of the world gave up on that years ago. Look. Planning is the most important part. What you call management, I call reacting. You - and when I say you, I mean store managers in general - you turn up, check the plan to see where things should be at, work out what needs doing to get there and react to whatever turns up along the way. Without planning you’d be just reacting to what happens each day, headless-chicken style.”  
“I’m not saying planning isn’t important. I’m saying you over-rate it. Still need leadership.”  
“Rejecting everything out of hand isn’t leadership.”  
“Reviewing everything coming across your desk in terms of where things stand financially is part of leadership. With just three months behind my desk you’ve simply not got the experience to understand that. And, besides - for all of what you’ve just said, I’m now thinking your short-term planning isn’t up to much.”  
“Eh?”  
“Well, look. With you having arranged a lift home for O’Donnell and the other Polos being booked, there’s no work car available to give you a lift over to Area.” He glanced upwards. “And with no taxis in sight, I don’t fancy your chances of staying dry with the weather looking like it is.”  
John was looking past him. “Wrong again.”  
Dave turned to see Cath’s BMW moving slowly towards them. They heard the boot unlock as she pulled to a halt before getting out.  
“John, your new team is waiting, so load up and get in. Chop, chop.”

Dave was pointing at the BMW. “You can’t park that there.”  
Cath pointed at the sign. “This is a Pick Up point. I’m picking up John. So I can stop here.”  
She turned to John - “I need a second so jump in” - then waited for the passenger door to close before turning back to Dave. “Why the sour face, Dave? You should be happy, now you’re finally rid of the pair of us. Took longer than you wanted, mind. What was it? Six years? Six years where you did your best to squeeze us out. But all the time you were happy to take the credit for our work, weren’t you?”  
Dave scowled.  
Cath lowered her voice. “Everyone’s watching.”  
Dave glanced back across his shoulder. “Well, they can just get back to bloody work, can’t they?”  
“Not what I meant.” Cath smiled. “We’ve all heard about your little stunt on Monday, how you basically told Campbell he was incompetent. So everyone is watching now, keen to see what you do next.”  
Dave looked past her, glaring at John in the car.  
“It wasn’t him,” said Cath. “It was the other person on that call.”  
Dave’s eyes widened in realisation.  
“That’s right,” Cath continued, “and since everyone knows just how well this place was run while you weren’t here, well, you’d best not do anything stupid, yeah?”  
With that Cath blew a kiss to the HR team watching from the main window, then walked around to the driver’s side of the car and got in.

John had seen Dave’s expression but waited until the car was moving before he spoke. “What was that about, then?”  
“Just telling him what he needed to hear.”  
“Which was?”  
Cath smile was growing. “Campbell’s still pissed off at him after Monday.”  
“Really? He seemed okay with Dave earlier.”  
“Trust me - he’s not...”

Fifteen minutes later there was a single text-alert on Kayleigh’s phone. She waited until the aisle was clear of customers before looking at the message that simply read “I’m here!”  
But the attached photo spoke volumes. It was of John seated at a large table surrounded by the entire “Small Stores” project team. He had shed his jacket and tie and left his top button undone, but the most telling thing was his smile. A smile that was far broader than she’d ever seen on him at any time while he was in the store.

********************

Five-fifty pm

The couple were sitting at “their” table in the quiet cafe not far from the store.

Kayleigh had followed John’s lead and torn open both toasties, quickly leaning back to avoid the rush of steam from the far-too-hot contents. John had done that then switched to the chips on his plate, alternately stabbing one for himself then stabbing at Kayleigh’s fork when she attempted to steal his because her chips were “still too bloody hot, John.”  
In time the temperature of the toasties and chips dropped to a reasonable level and they both happily tucked into their meals.

“Elsie came by on her way out today,” said Kayleigh. “Smiling, fit to burst.”  
“In Non-Foods, right?”  
“Yes. How did you know?”  
“Helen told me where you were, so I had Mark head out that way.” He tapped the side of his nose. “One last Management directive, you see.”  
Kayleigh smiled. “Oh yeah. Hey, Helen was in a hell of a mood this afternoon.”  
“Was she? Maybe, maybe it was the thought that her time as Assistant Manager is over. She’s back to straight Section Head from tomorrow, remember? Well, not a “straight” one, exactly...”  
As Kayleigh chuckled John took the opportunity to change the subject. “Did you get a big hug from Elsie, then?”  
“Did I ever.” Kayleigh looked thoughtful. “Do you think she’ll be all right from now on? Seeing as how Dave isn’t exactly a fan of hers.”  
It was John’s turn to look thoughtful. “Well, let’s see. She is on three written warnings, so basically can’t afford to make any screw-ups. But she’s got support from her supervisors, has a good attitude and a proper work ethic now, made the big effort and been acknowledged for it, so - she’d have to make some bad choices to end up in any trouble. And I just don’t see it. Mind you, knowing there’ll be a job waiting when she’s back from both knee ops will be a good incentive as well. And that’s confirmed, too. I made sure of that today. My actual, last Management Directive.”

“I watched you leave today.”  
“I know. I saw you. In the dairy aisle, I think you were.”  
“Hm. It was odd, watching you walk out. With Dave in front and you carrying that box, it was like he was escorting you from the building.”  
“Yes. I think he did it deliberately, to have one final dig at me. Petty, really.”  
“I’ve left loads of jobs but I’ve never walked out with a cardboard box. Never had enough on my desk or in a locker that I couldn’t fit in my pockets. Or just dump in a bin. Not even when I was temping.”  
“The only things in the box were my new teapot and my notepads. I offered them to Dave as a record of what I’ve been doing but he wasn’t interested. I thought about just leaving them there, but, well, he’d made up his mind, so...”

Kayleigh nodded, waited just long enough not to appear dismissive and then changed the subject. “That was a lovely picture of you all,” said Kayleigh. “Who took it? Was it Cath?”  
“No. It was her mate Gemma. She’s also HR, and had a couple of clean-up tasks now I’m officially out of the store. She suggested the photo-sesh, had us all moving around so we each got a picture with ourselves in the middle of the group.”  
“That was a lovely picture,” Kayleigh repeated. Then she sighed. “Pity I can’t stay over tonight.”  
John shrugged. “Like I said - I’ve got early starts tomorrow and Friday. Well, seven-thirty, but still - if you stayed over we’d have to be up and about well before six o’clock just to get you home before I head in. No. Best we hold off until the weekend. Friday and Saturday anyway. We’ll go out one night, get something in for the other. If you pack a bag tonight I can take it with me when I drop you home tomorrow after work.”

“Are you still wanting me to meet you away from the store, then?”  
“Yes. Please.”  
Silence.  
John bit his lip. “It’s only for a little while - couple of weeks at most. Then I’ll have been forgotten and you won’t catch any grief about it.”  
Another sigh. “I suppose...”


	4. Friday Morning

Friday 17 January, five-twenty am, Bury

“Oh God. Not again...”

Kayleigh pulled the pillow around her head and pressed it firmly against her ear to try to block out the sounds drifting over from the bedroom across the hall, tried to pretend she couldn’t hear anything - but to no avail. And even if she could block them out, the knowledge of what her sister and brother-in-law were doing at that very moment wouldn’t allow her to get back to sleep in any case.

Kayleigh couldn’t begrudge them their fun, their renewed joy in each other since they’d cleared the air just after Christmas. Indeed, on the Monday morning when she’d realised exactly what she was hearing she’d had to clamp her hand over her own mouth to suppress the sound of her giggling.  
While on the Tuesday the same realisation had put her in an entirely different mood, one where she had “played along” with the activities across the hall, this time biting her lip to keep from making any telling noises of her own.  
Although, on those days the bedroom calisthenics hadn’t started until after six o’clock, in line with Steve’s later starting times.

From Wednesday, however, Steve had been rostered on the earliest shift, meaning Mandy’s vigorous efforts to send him to work with a smile on his face had started correspondingly earlier.  
Painfully earlier, in Kayleigh’s mind. It was her unspoken reason for suggesting that she stay over with John on the Wednesday night - a stayover she’d fully intended to extend through to the weekend - but John had talked her out of it, pointing out just how early they’d have to get up in order to get Kayleigh back to Bury before John’s own early start.  
Which was ironic, given that Kayleigh had been woken up well before five-thirty for the last three days.

The noises from across the hall grew more intense as Steve continued to throw himself into his work, so Kayleigh jammed the pillow harder against her ear and started cursing the world for her immediate situation that, to Kayleigh, was quite literally “fucking aggravating”.  
Cursed John’s new boss for urging him to start early on his first two full days in his new job.  
And cursed John too, for agreeing to do it.

********************

Five-forty am, John’s bedroom

John had barely slept. He’d made the mistake of double-checking his financial position before going to bed, and it worried him. His current situation was stable but the outlook wasn’t great.

He’d applied for the new job with his eyes open, knowing fully-well that it was a solid position with better-than-decent prospects, but on a lower salary than before and with little opportunity to start climbing the ladder again for at least a year. Although it would probably take longer, knowing how things tended to work.

He’d known all that when he signed his name on the form accepting the position, had accepted that taking the new job at a lower salary with little immediate chance of allowances and bonuses was essentially the price he had to pay to get his career moving again. It hadn’t thrilled him, but he’d accepted it.  
Right up to the moment when he learned about the deal Dave had put together to encourage SimonB to stay on as Acting Assistant for another three months. How Dave had lined up a guaranteed bonus to go with the allowances that SimonB was already entitled to.  
A guaranteed bonus for doing what had been John’s job, using John’s notes, having had the benefit of John’s experience, advice and on-the-job guidance.  
Because John had never been given a bonus for doing his own job. Overtime, sure. But no bonuses had ever come his way.

And then he got angry.  
Cursed Dave for simply throwing money at SimonB to have him stay on as Assistant, rather than disrupt his own precious holiday-time across Christmas and the New Year and actually make the effort to recruit an Assistant like he’d known he was supposed to do.  
Then cursed the company for letting him do it.

Then started punching his pillow.

********************

Seven thirty-five, “Small Stores” team room, Area Office

John’s chat with Shannon was interrupted by the sound of John’s ringing deskphone.

“John Redmond.”  
“Good morning Mr Redmond. It’s Ben at Reception. You have a visitor.”  
“Oh. I’m not expecting anyone today. Um, who is it?”  
“It’s a Helen Mitchell, from the Central-One store.”  
John was quiet as he looked at his full mug before sighing and putting it down.  
“I’m on my way.”

The sound of the double-doors opening got Helen’s attention, and she looked up to see John walking towards her. “Hi John. Thanks for coming down.”  
“Hi Helen. Um, what are you doing here?”  
She took a deep breath. “Can we please talk about Wednesday?”  
John hesitated, his eyes darting left and right.  
“Please, John? Just for a bit.”  
“All right,” he replied, nodding to his left. “Over there, away from everyone.”

Ben’s lip-reading skills weren’t perfect but were good enough for most situations. With Helen facing away from him he could only “read” half of the conversation in which John was initially a spectator, but once John began to speak Ben was able to make out a few phrases:  
“No, that’s on me.”  
“...shouldn’t have put you in that position...”  
“...not in front of everyone...”  
“So you couldn’t fight back, basically.”  
With that Ben averted his eyes. “Fucking hell,” he thought as he looked for something - anything - to focus on other than their conversation.

The next time Ben looked up he saw that John and Helen had moved towards the front doors, any tension between them seemingly gone. And then he heard John’s voice - “I have a better idea” - before he led Helen back to the Reception desk.  
“Mate, are any of the office cars available? I need one for about an hour, tops.”  
Ben brought up the vehicle booking system and turned the monitor towards John. “They’re all in. Take your pick.”  
“Which one’s closest?”  
“The blue Golf is right out front.”  
“Perfect. Can you grab the keys while I fill this in?”  
John tapped at the keyboard while Ben unlocked a cabinet out of sight under the desk. He checked the contents of the online form, then looked at John. “Okay, but why an hour?”  
“In case the traffic is shit, especially coming back.”  
“Ah. Fair enough.” Ben clicked the “Confirm” button and handed the keys to John.  
“Thanks, pal.”

John turned, jiggled the keys and jabbed his thumb at the front door. “Come on.”  
Helen look confused. “Where are we going?”  
“I’m driving you to the store. The least I can do now is make sure you’re not late for work.”  
“But you don’t have your jacket, and it’s freezing outside.”  
John’s eyes flicked up at the clock on the wall. “No time. And the Golfs have great heaters. I’ll be fine.”

John had his cellphone to his ear as he opened the front door to let Helen through.  
“Hi Shannon.  
John.  
I’m popping out for a bit.  
I know. I’m taking a car.  
It’s got a heater. I’ll be fine.”

Ten minutes later Brenda Kelson was one of a number of early-starters watching as a blue Golf with John Redmond at the wheel came to a halt in the Pick Up point in front of the store’s main doors.  
The group could see that Helen had removed her seatbelt but hadn’t opened her door, the pair seemingly deep in conversation.  
When they finished talking, Helen briefly rested her hand on John’s arm then got out with a big smile on her face. Her wave was answered by a double-beep as the Golf moved away.

Being the Senior in Admin Support meant Brenda had more say than most over when she started her work for the day. And right now she was in no rush to go in, but did move a few steps to her left as Helen walked towards the main doors.  
“Morning, Helen.”  
Helen’s smile was now even broader. “Good morning, Brenda.”

Brenda watched Helen go into the store before she stepped away from the doors, reached for her phone and tapped the first “J” entry in the “Frequent Contacts” list. It rang twice before being answered.  
“Hi Brenda,” said John, his voice sounding slightly hollow in the car’s cabin.  
“Good morning, Jonathan.”  
Uh oh. “Um, what’s going on?”  
“I might ask you the same thing, young man.”  
“Pardon?”  
“I’ve just seen you drop Helen here at the store.”  
“Oh. Right.”  
“And she’s looking particularly happy this morning. Unlike yesterday when she had a face like thunder.”  
“Ah. About that...”  
“Particularly happy,” Brenda repeated, enunciating her words. “Satisfied, even. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I might be thinking we now know what her “I’ve just been fucked!” expression looks like.”  
“Brenda!”  
She chuckled. “But since I do know better, John - what’s going on?”  
John hesitated. “Was that a wind-up? You...” He held his tongue, then chuckled. “Look, me dropping her in - it’s not what you might think. It’s certainly not THAT.”  
“I didn’t think it would be. So?”  
John sighed. “I made a mistake on Wednesday when I was saying my Goodbyes. Actually, no. I was a complete arse.”  
“How, exactly?”

********************

Nine-fifteen am, store Reception desk

It was the last day that the Promotions team would be moved around the different Sections in the store, Customer Care having already resumed their normal duties. Kayleigh, Penny and Suze had gathered by the Reception desk as they’d done for the past few weeks but there had been no Assistant Manager there waiting for them. Suze had taken the initiative - “can’t stand around here all day” - and waved Keith over.

He looked a bit confused as he approached. “Morning. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to still be doing this.”  
“This is our last day,” said Suze. “We’re back doing promotions on Monday.”  
“Oh. Right. Well, we usually get a heads-up about where you’ll be needed, but,” he looked around, “with Mr Barrett not being available right now - um, let’s work something out.” He turned to Craig. “Can you pass over the current circular please?”  
He took the circular and spread it out on the store-side of the Reception desk in front of the trio. “Right then, ladies. Let’s see what’s on special today...”  
The collective agreement was that there were plenty of specials across the board, although, as Penny pointed out, “These prices aren’t that special. I wouldn’t bother with any of them.”  
“No,” agreed Keith, who was now looking out the main window. “And the forecast isn’t terrible either.”  
The three women exchanged glances but said nothing.  
Keith turned back to see three expectant faces. “It is cold today, but it takes a really bad forecast to get people thinking they need to stock up before the weather actually turns to crap,” he explained. “So with not-terrible weather and these not-very specials on offer, I doubt we’ll be seeing a rush of customers today. Meaning we probably won’t be needing your skills on the tills.”  
Now Keith was looking at the ends of the aisles. “The overnighters did their thing with the shelves, customer numbers look fairly normal... yeah.” He turned back towards the women. “Here’s the plan. You’ll work as a team, doing a standard rotation, about thirty minutes per Section, moving clockwise around the main floor. For the morning, anyway. Stick together during your tea- and lunch-breaks. We’ll see if things are different after lunch, but I can’t see anything changing too much. Cool?”  
Three heads nodded back at him.  
“Good. So. Where would you like to start?”  
Kayleigh cleared her throat. “Could we start in Non-Foods? It’s nice and warm over there,” she offered with a grin.  
Keith chuckled. “Fair enough. I’ll go with you to tell Amy what’s happening, then I’ll talk to the other Section Heads so they know what you’ll be up to.”

Five minutes later Keith was back at the Reception desk and looking annoyed. “Turns out Simon is with Thompson. Got called in at the last minute for something or other, according to Helen. Still - a heads-up would have been nice.”  
“True,” said Craig, “but if Thompson was in a flap he probably didn’t get the chance.” He waited for two customers to move past then lowered his voice. “So you talked to Helen, then?”  
“I did.”  
“And how is she?”  
“Back to her normal self.”  
“Thank fuck for that, after yesterday. And Wednesday-afternoon, especially.” Craig glanced about to be sure no one was close enough to hear them. “The talk is that she and Redmond had a falling-out just before he went.”  
“Really? Them?” Keith looked thoughtful then shook his head. “No. I don’t believe that. She’s always been his go-to, remember?”  
“True. Still...”

********************

Nine-thirty am, Non-Foods

The Promotions trio had finished tidying the stacks of trimmers and crimpers as an impromptu make-work task thought up by Amy, and were now putting discount stickers on the price tags of all the store-branded kitchen items because “we’ll never shift this shit otherwise.”  
Amy gave them one instruction - “just press the sticker flat in the top-right corner so you don’t obscure the product number” - then left them to it. As a River Island “veteran” Kayleigh knew a few techniques to speed up the process and the three were soon powering through the stacks of already-cheap tat.  
And then they were distracted.  
“Oh. Interesting.”  
“Hmm?”  
Suze was pointing discreetly. “Look over there. Helen actually looks happy today.”  
“What, compared to yesterday, you mean?”  
“No. Happy-happy. Permanent-smile happy.”  
“Are you sure? Doesn’t seem very likely after yesterday.”  
“Maybe she “got some” this morning,” suggested Penny.  
“Looks like she’s heading this way. You could always ask her.”  
“Or you could.”  
“Best not, just in case.”

Helen was walking towards the trio, her smile broad. Kayleigh spoke first. “Morning, Helen.”  
“Good morning, ladies. Just letting you know there’s been a small change to Keith’s plan.”  
“Oh?”  
“Yes. You were originally coming to me after lunch then over to Gail, right? That’s been swapped around, as Gail will need you three to help out after the lunch-rush before we will. Then go back to the original order after that. Okay?”  
“No problem, Helen.”  
“Great. Thanks!”

The trio didn’t speak again until Helen was well out of earshot.  
“Wow. Maybe she did get some this morning.”  
“She was in a foul mood for more than a day, so, for her to be in that good a mood now, well - she must have gotten a LOT.”

Their sniggers were cut short by a different voice behind them. “Good to see that Helen’s in a better mood.”  
They turned to see “Big” Dianne had joined them. “Well, it’s not like she could have been in a worse mood. Not after yesterday.”  
“True,” said Suze.  
“You all know why she was like that, right? Or, when it started, at least.”  
“Something on Wednesday afternoon, right?”  
“Yep. It was after her and Redmond were talking just before he left.”  
“What?”  
“He was doing the rounds, you see. Said Bye to me and all.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. Surprised me as well. Anyway. He and Helen were talking, then they wandered off to have one of their private chats, as they do, well, did, and um, yeah. Chatting away, then he just walked off and left her standing there with a look on her face like he’d slapped her. He hadn’t, but, you know.”  
“Wow. Some kind of tiff, maybe?”  
“Maybe,” replied Dianne. Her eyes flicked around and then her expression changed. “Oop - Barrett’s doing his rounds. Back to it, yeah?”

As the trio resumed stickering, Suze moved closer to Kayleigh. “Did Helen really not say anything to you, K? You two get on all right.”  
“Nothing. Well, Helen’s almost-always happy but for those times when she’s in a mood, it’s always best to stick to work-talk, I’ve found.”

Despite her casual answer, Kayleigh’s mind was racing. Because John had given her a complete non-answer when she’d mentioned Helen’s mood over dinner on Wednesday.  
What was going on?

********************

Ten-fifteen am, staff cafeteria

Their delayed start resulted in the trio being in a different morning-tea session than usual; one with a slightly different mix of staff including a number of early-starters. And the conversations going on around them were the usual store chatter, with nothing of interest in any of them.

Except for the one at the table behind them.

“Mitchell’s looking happy today.”  
“Very happy. Hasn’t stopped smiling since they turned up this morning.”  
“Since who turned up?”  
“Her and Fat Boy.”  
“Redmond?”  
“Oh, yeah. They rocked up in that blue car of his, all smiles, looking all loved-up.”  
“No!”  
“Yep.”  
“But she’s got a girlfriend, though.”  
“Supposedly, but when was the last time you saw her? We used to see them all the time, and definitely at night when whatshername would turn up and they’d go home together. But I’ve not seen them do that for, what? About a month now, I think. Longer, maybe.”  
“Wow. Still, when you think about it - him and her have always looked cosy, haven’t they? Hey - do you think it’s been going for a while? Maybe they were waiting for him to get kicked out of here before they went public.”  
“Maybe...”

Kayleigh forced herself not to react, simply continued to smile at Suze’s story while casually checking her phone. He’d still not responded to her texts.  
Right, then.

********************

Twelve forty-five pm, “Small Stores” team room, Area Office

John and the team-lead were both shaking their heads as they quickly gulped down their lunches. Mary was unusually blunt: “Christ. That was like pulling teeth. Like they didn’t want our business.”  
John tried to offer something constructive in reply but was interrupted by the sound of his deskphone.

“John Redmond.”  
“Good afternoon Mr Redmond. It’s Shona at Reception. You have a visitor.”  
“Really? Who is it?”  
“It’s a Miss Kitson, asking that you come down.”  
John smiled. “Oh! She’s from Central-One, so can you just sign her in, please? I’ll get someone to come collect her.”  
There was pause, then “Miss Kitson is specifically asking you to come down to see her.”  
“What? Why doesn’t she just sign in?”  
“I’m just passing on the message, Mr Redmond.”  
John winced as he put his mug down. “Sorry, Shona. I’ll come down now.”

John could see Kayleigh was standing away from and to the side of the Reception desk when he walked through the double doors. He made his usual discreet wave, made a side-trip to apologise to Shona then hurried over to Kayleigh. “Hi. What’s the occasion?”  
“Come outside, please.”  
“But I don’t have a jacket.”  
“Just come outside.”

Kayleigh led John outside and away from the stream of pedestrians, at which point she turned and faced him, her arms folded tightly. “Any reason why you’re ignoring me?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“I’ve tried calling and texting you all morning and you’ve not picked up or answered.”  
“Yes. Because I’ve got meetings with contractors all day, and in those meetings all phones are off unless we need to call someone for whatever reason.” He jabbed his thumb back at the building. “It’s standard practice at this level, so I’ve not ignored you.” He shrugged. “Technically I’ve ignored everyone.” He tried a smile, but when it wasn’t reciprocated he began to frown.  
“So what were you texting about, then?”  
“And calling.”  
“Well?”  
“I’ve been hearing things about you.”  
“Hearing what? From where?”  
“...People.”  
He sighed. “Oh, not again... So. What are your brain-dead colleagues gossiping about now?”  
“They’re not brain-dead, John.”  
“Fine. Ah, what conclusions have your uninformed workmates leapt to, then?”  
“That you took Helen home with you last night.”  
For a moment John could only stare. “Why the fuck would they think that?”  
“Because she was looking very happy when you dropped her off at work this morning in your car.”  
“No I didn’t.”  
“They’re saying you did.”  
“Who is? Give me names.”  
“Why?”  
“So I can call in a favour and have them sacked, that’s why.”  
Kayleigh’s eyes widened but she didn’t answer.  
He pressed on. “Yes, I dropped her at the store today. But I didn’t take Helen anywhere last night. Or any night. She came to see me here this morning. Just turned up out of the blue at about half-seven. To talk.”  
“Oh yes?”  
“Yes.”  
“About what?”  
“Does it matter?”  
“Yes. Yes it does, actually.”

As he stood there and looked at Kayleigh, his lack of sleep and a growing headache finally got to John. He took a half-step towards her and lowered his voice. “Fine. You remember back when you first came over from Stockport?”  
“What? Oh. Sure.”  
“Remember how you used to talk about me then? Called me a-” he was counting on his fingers - “fat wanker, fat bastard, fat idiot. And all the rest. Remember that?”  
Kayleigh’s jaw dropped.  
“Of course I fucking know. Damn near everyone in the store has called me the same or similar at some point. And Helen did the same when she first started. Before I left on Wednesday I reminded her about that and pointed out it wouldn’t be a good look to do that just as she’s looking for her next job after they head down south.” He paused. “And it needed saying, but not like that.”  
“Is that why she was all upset and angry afterwards?”  
“Well, obviously. So she came to see me this morning, we talked about it properly and cleared the air. Then I borrowed an office car and dropped her back at the store so she wouldn’t be late for work. In a light blue Golf. Not my dark blue Fiat that I’ve been driving to work damn near every day for two months. Whoever said I was in my car is a fucking idiot.”  
“Not everyone knows about cars, John.”  
“Don’t make excuses for them. Just tell me who the bastards are.”  
Kayleigh bit her lip and looked away.  
“No? Then at least tell me you stuck up for Helen.”  
Kayleigh shifted awkwardly. “Stick up for her but not you?”  
“Doesn’t matter about me. I’m never working in that store again. But Helen is, and will be for another two months. So. Did you?”  
Kayleigh couldn’t meet his gaze.  
“Seriously? You didn’t stick up for Helen, who you say is the best boss you’ve ever had? What, too busy fitting in with your mates, were you?” John was now shaking his head. “I don’t believe this.” He turned and began to walk away.  
“Where are you going?”  
“Inside. I’ve got things that need doing before the next meeting. And it’s bloody cold out here.” He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “I’ll bring your bag back to Bury tonight.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I don’t think you should be staying over right now. Do you?”  
He turned away before she could answer.


	5. Friday Afternoon

Friday 17 January, one forty-five pm

Dave Thompson’s concentration was broken by the sound of his ringing deskphone. His annoyance quickly changed to concern when he read the name on the display:

“K WHITFORD”

Uh oh.  
Karen Whitford was the Area Operations Manager who had not hesitated to share her low opinion of Dave on at least three very public occasions.

He cleared his throat. “Dave Thompson.”  
“Hello Dave. Karen Whitford here.”  
“Hello Karen. How are you?”  
“Very well, thank you. Welcome back.”  
“Thank you. So. What can I do for you?”  
“Look, I need to make this quick. You’re about to get a visitor.”  
“Am I?”  
“Yes. Your Head of HR is being briefed at the moment so should be with you shortly. I’ve just sent you an email confirming what I’m about to tell you. Short version - there’s been a complaint made about comments and rumours going around concerning certain members of staff. And since that’s something the Code of Conduct explicitly states is unacceptable, everyone is getting a reminder about the behavioural standards we’ve all signed up to.”  
“I see. Are there specific staff I should be talking to about this?”  
“Nope. Everyone in the Area is getting the same message. You’re the first on my to-call list. Do you have the email yet?”  
“No. Wait... “Breach of behavioural standards.” Is this it?”  
“That’s it. Take a second to read it.”  
Dave was quiet for a moment, then “Done.”  
“Good. When we’re finished here, you need to reply to that email confirming you’ve read and understood it. Now. Are you back on reduced hours yet?”  
“From tonight.”  
“Right. Every member of staff working in your store between now and closing time on Sunday night is be told that exact message. We’ll mop up any leftovers when we can. You’ll need to record who has been given the message so it’s noted on their files. That’s for the permanents and part-timers. Our contractors will be chased separately.”  
“...I see.”  
“And on Monday you’re to report how many staff have been told, along with how many are left. That’s by eleven o’clock at the latest, so the numbers can be collated for the high-ups.”  
“Right. But why the rush?”  
“Because of all the noise the company made when the new standards were first announced. Head Office wants it known that we’re quick to act on these kinds of complaints. How you go about it is up to you, although, obviously, a full store-closure is out of the question.”  
“I see.” Dave paused. “Well, our early-starters will be finishing up shortly so I’d best get to it.”  
“Your first task is to reply back confirming you understand it. Then get on to everyone else, please.”  
“Understood. Before you go - have you heard or seen Alan Campbell today? He’s not been answering calls or responding to emails.”  
Karen forced herself to keep a straight face rather than the smirk that was starting to push through. “I saw him briefly this morning before he got called away. Which is why I’m doing this instead of him.”  
“Oh right. Well,” - he tapped at the keyboard - “you’ll have that reply in the next minute or so, then I’ll get on to everyone else.”  
“Thank you, Dave. We’ll talk again on Monday.”  
“Right, Karen. Bye.”

Over in Area office, Karen swapped back to the email application and clicked the auto-refresh option, quietly drumming her fingers on the table until Dave’s reply came through. At that point she looked over at Alan Campbell who had just come back into her office and sat down. “He’s just read and acknowledged it.”  
“Show me.”  
Karen turned the monitor to face Alan, who peered at the screen before nodding and simply muttering “Good.”  
Karen swivelled in her chair. “So what did they say, if anything?”  
“They said No. Mary put up a strong argument and they agreed, so, no. Redmond stays here with the project full-time from now on. I was told to find someone else to hold Thompson’s hand.”  
“Oh. Any thoughts?”  
“I’ve decided on Mills.”  
“Really? Her? Because, her and Dave aren’t likely to get along.”  
“When I say “decided”, I mean I’ve already told her what she’ll be doing for the next week at least, starting Monday. I’ll call Dave once the paperwork gets done.” Alan looked thoughtful. “Actually, no. I’ll wait for a bit, until just before he goes home. Put him in the right mood for the weekend.”  
Karen winced. “Fucks’ sake, Alan.”  
He shrugged. “Well, if he’s not gonna put in the groundwork to take back his own job...”  
“But Redmond’s email said Dave was ready to take over again.”  
“Yeah. As of Wednesday afternoon. Not first-thing on Monday morning when he was expected to be. Anyway. It’s done. Mills will be overseeing him for all of next week at least. And since Dave won’t be impressed by her coming in, he’ll be wanting to prove he’s up to it sooner rather than later.” A sliver of a smile. “But he’s not getting off the hook for at least five days.”

There was a moment of silence while Karen decided how badly she wanted to know what Alan was actually thinking. And in the end - decided “not at all”.  
“Huh. So, what’s the official position on this?”  
“The what?”  
“What’s the explanation for having this new person hanging around Dave for a week?”  
“Training - slash - review. That covers the need for her to be looking over his shoulder continuously.”  
“And who knows the actuals?”  
“Dave and Mills, obviously. Store HR-Head. Area-HR level four and up. Area-Ops levels five and up. But it’s “need to know”, essentially.”

Karen nodded, then looked back at her desk and scowled.  
“What’s that?” asked Alan.  
“The list of stores for the reminder about this gossip-business.”  
Alan nodded then held out his hand. “I’ll do half if you’ll buy a couple of drinks after work.”  
“Okay, but you should know I’m already in a bourbon-mood.”  
Alan wiggled his fingers. “Excellent. Give it here.”

********************

Back at the store, Dave had finally read the full text of Karen’s email, decided that the required amount of admin and people-nonsense wasn’t a good use of his time so made his way to the office of the Assistant Manager. The discussion had been brief:

“Hi Dave.”  
“Hi Simon. I have an overtime-opportunity for you.”  
“A what?”

Which is how SimonB ended up in the HR office with Roisin, printing and photocopying staff lists and the text of the behavioural-expectation reminder that was to be read to every member of staff working in the store right up until Sunday night. She’d suppressed a smile during his brief rant about Dave “just dumping things on people” before stopping any more of his noise by saying “You knew exactly what he was like when you signed on the dotted line.”

Suitably chastised, Simon returned to his task but was soon looking anxious. “It’ll take me ages to get these out to the Heads. And we won’t have the early-starters around for much longer.”  
“So just call the Heads in for a short meeting, then,” replied Roisin. “Tell them what needs to get done then tell them to get on with it.”  
Simon looked surprised.  
“You’re the Assistant Manager,” Roisin reminded him. “Of course you can.”

In the cafeteria, Dave was making another coffee when the Tannoy crackled into life:  
“Good afternoon, staff. Would all Section Heads or substitutes please gather in the Operations room in five minutes’ time. All Section Heads or substitutes to the Operations room at two-ten pm, please. Thank you.”

The next noise was that of multiple chairs scraping on the floor as their occupants got to their feet.  
“What the hell is the Operations room?” asked Dave, looking at no one in particular.  
“It’s the small meeting room,” came a voice from behind him. He turned to see that Amy had also stood up. “When it’s called the Operations room, that’s code for “urgent store business” so we know to get a move on.”  
“Code?”  
“Yes. It’s an idea Mr Redmond came up with. That way we can use the overhead speakers to quickly get important messages out to everyone without the customers knowing what’s going on.”  
“Oh. Very good.” Dave pointed to the stream of departing staff. “Don’t let me hold you up.”

Dave watched Amy walk out, a sneer on his face. “Codes?” he muttered. “How bloody childish. I knew he was playing at my job. I knew it. And if Campbell ever answers his fucking phone I’ll be able to tell him as well.”

********************

Three-ten pm

The entire HR team had gathered in their office to dissect the work-week over a shared afternoon tea. The last-minute requirement for the “no gossiping” reminder had been annoying but not completely unexpected - “there’ll always be someone who needs telling to shut the hell up” - and neither was the news that Dave had basically crapped over SimonB’s weekend plans with no warning.  
As they chatted about their own weekend plans, Roisin was interrupted mid-sentence by a specific ringtone on her personal phone. “Oop. Cath. Hang on... Hi Cath.”  
“Hi Ro. You all right?”  
“Sure am. Hey, we’re all heading out to the Toad after work but only for a half-hour or so, what with the weather being so shit. Wanna come with?”  
“Yeah, yeah. Sounds good. Hey,” - Cath’s tone changed - “find somewhere private, would you? Just for a couple of minutes.”  
“Oh. Sure.”  
Once outside and well away from the now-closed door, Roisin brought the phone back to her ear. “What’s up?”  
“You’re definitely alone?”  
“Yes.”  
“Right. In about ninety minutes Dave will be getting a call from Alan Campbell that will make him very annoyed, and the only other person in the store who’ll know why is you. And that’s how it’ll have to stay. Got that?”  
“Seriously?”  
“Very.”  
“Why? What’s going on?”

When Roisin returned it was to a group of expectant faces that were instantly disappointed. “I’ve just been told two things, one of which I’m not allowed to talk about.”  
She took a moment to compose herself, to remember the script.

“What I can tell you is that Dave is getting an offsider all next week. She’ll be shadowing him as he does his thing every day. You all know about Brenda Kelson working on the training material for new managers, right? This person - didn’t catch her name - has gone through that material, so will now observe how a typical store is run, then re-read the training material and look for any gaps or anything that needs clarifying. And since she’s new to the company, she doesn’t have a background in our way of working so can look at it all impartially.”  
“Well, that makes sense,” said Barbara.  
“It does make sense,” agreed Roisin. “And the reason they told me is because I’ll have to set up manager-level access to everything in this place for her, even though she won’t be in charge as such. And I’m telling you in case I’m not around if she comes asking questions about how we work alongside Ops.”

As the group nodded, Roisin began to appreciate how solid the cover story actually was.  
“As for the other thing - I’m not allowed to discuss it at all, and that’s that. All you need to know is that I might get called away at short notice or need complete privacy at times over the next week or two, so if I ask you to make yourselves scarce, just do it, please.”  
The group nodded collectively, well aware of the “Don’t ask” nature of some of the HR-Head’s responsibilities.  
But they didn’t expect Roisin to start grinning broadly.  
“But, God, I wish I could tell you,” she said. “Just as well we’re only going for half an hour tonight. Otherwise...”

********************

Four-thirty pm, Area Office

Cath waited for the pair from Systems to move past before she continued to speak. “Were you seriously not going to tell him?”  
Mary shrugged. “Didn’t see the point. Head Office made the call that the project team is to stay intact from now on, and that’s that. Tons of decisions are made about people without them ever knowing about it, right?”  
“Right, so why’d you change your mind?”  
“Whitford suggested it, since Campbell’s not got his way. He’s not bitter or anything, he’s just annoyed that he couldn’t take the easy option of just sending John back to the store for a week or two. And I get that. So. I’ll tell John first, then the rest of the team so they’ll know that call by Head Office applies to all of them.”

Cath folded her arms. “Campbell could at least apologise to John for wanting to mess him around yet again. He’s not even a week into his actual job.”  
“He can apologise to me while he’s at it,” muttered Mary. “We’re not exactly a huge team so aren’t likely to stay anywhere near the schedule if key members get dragged away for other tasks just because it’s the easiest option. It shouldn’t have taken a ruling from Head Office for him to accept that.”

The two women continued to walk down the corridor until they were just short of the “Small Stores” project room.  
“So what’s the plan?” asked Cath.  
“To tell him first, but away from everyone else.”  
“He deserves to know the full story, you know.”  
“I do. But we’re not allowed to, so...” Mary shrugged, then smiled. “Any idea how I can get him out here?”  
Cath’s smile matched hers. “Leave it to me. I want a word with him about this weekend anyway.”

Mary moved closer to the half-open door and watched as Cath walked straight up to John - who was mid-conversation - and whispered directly into his ear. To which he reacted in his usual manner; nodding, making some form of gesture to whomever he’d been talking to before turning to follow Cath from the room.

“Just like the Pied Piper,” Mary mused as she stepped back from the door. Although she was certain the Pied Piper never wore heels and a tight top.

********************

The small Bury house, eight-fifty pm

John groaned. “Oh, shit.”  
The doorbell had triggered the usual cacophony of sound: Misty barking, followed by the kids getting excited at Misty’s barking, followed by Kayleigh fussing at Misty to be quiet.  
But then something different - Steve’s authoritative tone cutting through the din:  
“Misty. Quiet.  
Misty. Sit.”  
The instant silence was almost shocking.

A few seconds later the glow of light visible through the glass panels in the front door intensified, the door opened and Steve looked through. “Hello John. You all right?”  
“I’m good, mate. You?”  
“Very good, pal. So, don’t just stand about in the rain - come on in.”  
“I was just going to drop Kayleigh’s bag and go.”  
“Will you at least come in and say Hello?”  
“I really don’t think there’s much point, Steve.”  
“Come on, pal. As a favour to me.”  
John hesitated then nodded. “Okay. Sure.”

He followed Steve through the door and into the living room, where he was met by the sight of the extended Price/Kitson clan.  
John took one look at Misty and froze.  
Misty took one look at John and became instantly agitated, but again Steve took control:  
“Misty. Away.”

Every other face watched in surprise as Misty quickly trotted to the back of the room and lay down. Kayleigh asked the question on everyone’s mind:  
“How did you do that?”  
Steve simply shrugged. “Been teaching her a few things. But never mind that now.” He pointed to John. “We have a visitor.”  
“I’ve brought your bag,” said John.  
“I see,” said Kayleigh.  
“Everyone say Hello,” said Steve.  
“Hello,” said Chloe.  
“Hello,” John replied.  
Alfie said nothing, just looked at his feet.  
Steve cocked his head. “Alfie. Don’t be rude. Say Hello.”  
Silence.  
More sternly - “We have a visitor. Say Hello.”  
More silence.  
Steve looked towards Mandy, who pointed at Alfie and then at the calendar on the wall. “You’re still grounded for another week, remember? It’d be a shame to make it any longer... now say Hello.”  
Alfie cleared his throat. “Hello, Mr Redmond.”  
“Hello Alfie.”  
“Thank you,” said Mandy. “Now - bed, you too. You have a big day tomorrow. I’ll be through to check on you in a bit.”

Kayleigh waited until the door closed behind the children before speaking. “Why is my bag in a bin liner?”  
“In case you were all out. There’s no rain cover over your front door.”  
“You’d have just left it in plain sight by the front door for anyone to see?”  
“That street light’s rubbish. It’d be just another shadow, wouldn’t it?”  
“Unless someone had decided to try to break in, then they’d trip over it.”  
“If someone was going to break in, having your bag of clothes by the front door would be the least of your concerns, don’t you think?”  
Kayleigh paused, then “Anyway...”  
“Anyway...”  
“We all got told off today. About rumours and whatever.”  
John nodded. “I know. We got the same. There was an anonymous report of staff in a store doing and saying things that they’d agreed they wouldn’t do, and since the company made a big deal about all of that last year, they wanted to make a big deal of it today as well.”  
“Was that your doing?”  
“Technically, it was your doing. Since you wouldn’t dob anyone in, everyone’s been put on notice.”  
Kayleigh shifted awkwardly. “It was odd, Helen talking about rumours and whatever then having to read something out word-for-word, all while keeping a straight face.”  
“She doesn’t know the rumours were about her. And isn’t going to be told, either. As far as Helen is concerned, someone in the Area forgot what it is that they get paid to do, so she’s had to read that out and get confirmation that everyone understood what they were told. Along with every Section Head in every store and support facility. Plus Area office.”  
“As opposed to what?”  
“Just the gossips themselves being taken aside and, well...”  
“Shot?” Steve offered.  
John grinned despite himself. “I was thinking in terms of a good talking-to, but, you know - shooting might have worked as well.”  
“Quicker, though.”  
“Much quicker. And cheaper,” John agreed, before adding “Anyway, I should get moving. Got work in the morning.”  
“Have you?” asked Kayleigh.  
“Yep. A few hours’ worth.”  
“You didn’t say anything about it before now.”  
“We didn’t get told about it until this afternoon. It’s because of some other... stuff... that was going on.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Not important. But I should be going.”

Kayleigh took a step towards him. “John, wait.”  
“Hmm?”

“Um, how was band practice?”  
“Good. Solid. Everyone was on form. Even me.”  
“You’d be pleased, then.”  
“I am. Taken me long enough, but, yeah. Ready for it.”  
“Is there another family-and-strays session on Sunday, then?”  
“Yep.”  
“Wish I could go, but, you know...”  
“It’s all right. I’ll have supporters there.”  
“Who?”  
“Cath and Francie.”  
“Who and who?” asked Steve.  
“My friend Cath and her sister Francie.”  
John noted that both Kayleigh and Mandy arched their eyebrows at his use of the word “friend” but he pressed on. “They were dead keen to come to the show when it was originally set for this week, but can’t now it’s been pushed back to next Saturday. They’d already organised a big family-Skype session with Petra now she’s back in Italy.”  
“Petra?” asked Mandy.  
“The other sister,” said Kayleigh.  
“Hm,” said John. “So, yeah. They’ll be at the studio this Sunday. I mean, it’s not the same as going along to the show proper with all the different bands playing and actually having a big night out, but it’ll still be fun and they’ll get to see the full set that we’ll be playing next week.”  
“Yeah,” said Kayleigh, “I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.”  
There was an awkward moment, then John checked his watch. “I really need to go.”

“John, um...”  
“Yes?”

“When are you going to work tomorrow?”  
“In the morning. We kick things off at about nine o’clock.”  
“Is it another all-day thing?”  
“No, probably just three or four hours. We reckon a big effort by the whole team should see it finished by about one o’clock at the latest, and the rest of the weekend is our own.”  
“Oh. Right. Um...”  
“Yes?”  
“Would you be able to drop me off in town before you start, then?”  
“What? Why not just get a bus from here?”  
“I mean, take me in with you in the morning.”  
“From here?”  
“No. Not from here.”  
The penny dropped. “Oh. Are you still wanting to stay over tonight, then?”  
“Yes. Obviously.”  
“Okay,” said John as a smile began to form, “but you’ll be needing some things if you’re wanting to stay.”  
“Well, there’s a bag of my things just by your feet, as it happens.”  
“So there is. And, I understand there’s a bunch of your things at my place already. Bathroom stuff and whatever-else you’ve left there.”  
“Well, that’s lucky.”  
“It is, isn’t it?”  
Mandy groaned. “Oh, for fucks’ sake.”  
“What?”  
“Can you two stop being all clever and just get to the fucking point?”  
“That’s charming,” said Kayleigh, turning back to John. “All right. John, I want to stay with you tonight. And tomorrow night.”  
“I want that too.”  
“But I need to be back here after lunch on Sunday, so can you drop me off on your way to the practice at the studio?”  
“Yes I can.”  
“Great.”  
“Great.”

More silence, then deliberate sighing by Mandy.  
“What is it now, Mand?”  
“Why are you two still here?” she asked in mock exasperation as she jabbed her thumb at the door. “He’s got work in the morning, right? So get a move on.”

********************

Two minutes later, the blue Fiat had disappeared into the darkness, Mandy had checked on Alfie and Chloe and had joined Steve on the sofa.  
“What are you smiling at?” she asked.  
“That turned out better that I thought.”  
“What did?”  
“Them two just now. I’m taking the credit for that.”  
“How, exactly?”  
“What did you do when she came home in that mood?”  
“Sat and talked.”  
“Yep. You sat, talked, listened and agreed with her point of view completely.”  
“Right. So?”  
“What did I do?”  
“Nothing.”  
He shook his head. “I listened but kept out of it, which isn’t the same thing.” He turned and raised his hand. “Misty. Come.”

The dog joined them at the sofa - “Misty. Sit.” and was treated to some intense scratching behind her ears.

“See,” Steve continued, “for all that noise early-on about Kayleigh supposedly having the hump with him, I figured that getting them in the same room was the best option. So I made it happen.”  
“By...”  
“I guilted him into coming inside. He was going to hand me her bag and just go, so I asked him to come in as a favour to me.”  
“A favour? In what way?”  
“Don’t know. It was the first thing I thought to say. Anyhow, once he came in it was obvious to me that Kayleigh really wanted to talk to him, despite what she’d said to you.”  
“How do you know?”  
“Because she was the one who kept him talking, then kept finding reasons to ask him to wait even though he was saying he needed to get going. If she was actually annoyed with him, she'd have just told him to go, right?”

Steve continued to rub Misty’s head that she was resting on his knee. “You do realise that if those two get their act together - properly, I mean - then this one will be staying here, right?”  
“What? Why?”  
“You saw him tonight - John’s not a dog person. Assuming things do keep moving along, it wouldn’t be fair for her to basically impose Misty on him in his own house. At some point she’ll realise that herself and will be wondering how to ask if Misty can stay here. When she does ask we’ll say yes.”  
“Will we?”  
“Ahuh. It’s been good having Misty here. And she’s not a novelty any more. We look after her, she looks out for us - she’s family. Proper family. She should stay.”

They sat quietly, Steve continuing to give Misty attention, Misty slowly dissolving into a puddle of contentment, Mandy watching both of them and beginning to fidget.  
“Anything on TV you want to watch?” she asked casually.  
“No.”  
“Me neither. Radio?”  
“No.”  
“Me neither. Early bed time, then?”  
“No. This one’s had a lazy day and a bit of a nap just after her dinner, so won’t be ready to sleep-sleep for a little while yet. Maybe in half an hour or so. I figure I’ll stay up until she’s about to drop off, take her outside and empty her out-”  
“Do what?”  
“You know what I mean. Go out, wait for her to do her business, then back in and settle her down for the night. Then bed sometime after that. Depends on her, really. But you can go up to bed if you want.”  
“No. Too early, like you said. How about a drink?”  
“No more coffee for me, thanks.”  
“Not what I mean.”  
“Oh. Well, if you’re offering...”

When Mandy returned the first time it was with a beer for Steve and a few treats for Misty, and the second time with a full tumbler of whiskey for herself. That Steve noted, sniffed at and nodded appreciatively. “Got the good stuff, I see.”  
“I certainly did.”

Steve’s guess was about right, and twenty minutes later he was bringing Misty back inside and speaking quietly to her as she made herself comfortable. After topping up her water and dropping a few biscuits into her bowl, Steve turned off the light, closed the door and went back into the lounge where Mandy was waiting on the sofa. She handed him a fresh bottle and air-toasted him with her topped-up tumbler.  
“She’s good?”  
“She’s good.”  
Mandy took a slug of her whiskey then moved closer to Steve, twisting slightly and resting her head against his shoulder.

“Steve?”  
“Yes?”  
“I’m worried.”  
“What about?”  
“Sunday. About us meeting with the counsellor.”  
“Why?”  
“What if they can’t help us after all?”  
“They’ve already told us they can. It’s just finding the right person and the right time to let the kids know more about their dad, then help them work out how they feel about it all.”  
“But that could take ages, especially for Alfie. And those appointments won’t be cheap.”  
“Bugger the cost,” Steve replied. “That’s what overtime is for.”  
Mandy shifted slightly to better look him in the eye. “Really?”  
He didn’t reply; simply nodded in response.

They sat quietly for a while, Mandy continuing to lean against his shoulder as they sipped their drinks. Until Mandy glanced at the clock, downed the last of her whiskey and brought her mouth close to his ear.  
“Steve, love?”  
“Yes?”  
“You know how I’ve promised you one every morning this week? Until I get my... you know?”  
He couldn’t stop his grin. “Yes?”  
“Um, can we not, tomorrow? I’d like a long lie-in, for a change. If you don’t mind.”  
“Oh.” His face fell. “No, that’s all right. Yeah. A decent lie-in might be nice, actually.”

Mandy smiled, kissed his cheek then gave him a nudge as she sat up. “Great. But don’t just sit there - hurry up and finish your beer.”  
“Sure. Why?”  
“Because you’re getting it tonight instead.”


End file.
